Gleelight
by MsMKT86
Summary: Mercedes Jones moves to Lima, Ohio to live with her dad so that mother can travel with her new husband & his band. She's welcomed to Lima by a cast of characters but the one that draws her in is Sam Evans. He's tall, blonde & has the most amazing green eyes; but there's something else. Something hidden. As Mercedes & Sam grow closer & she discovers his secret, it changes everything
1. Lima, Ohio was likea kick to the stomach

**A/N: Hey guys! So, I've had this written for a while now and I thought, "What the hell?" I'm only gonna be posting this one chapter for a while until I see what you guys think. I have a few more but I'm just gonna wait and see your feedback.**

**Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: The Twilight Saga, Glee or anything of the characters or places from either. The OCs are mine._**

**_THIS STORY IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL._**

* * *

It's not that I want to leave. I love my mom and my home, but she wants to go on the road with her husband Grant Johnson and his band Grand Funk Connection. No one knew them except for the very small fan base they acquired from doing gigs in and around L.A., but my mom was their number one fan. I'll miss L.A. I'll miss the smog and the heat and the loudness of the city but this is the right thing to do.

"Are you sure you want to go Mercy?" Yvette Tomlinson asked her daughter as she wrapped her into a tight hug.

"Yeah mom. I'm sure." I answered returning the hug. My mom and my father, Gordon Jones got divorced when I was still a toddler. I would spend my summers with my dad in Lima, Ohio. Literally the most boring place on Earth, if you asked me. I haven't been there in over seven years. "I know how much this means to you mom." I saw the way my mom would sulk around the house when Grant went away on his mini tours around the West coast. I knew she wanted to go with him but she couldn't just leave me alone. I love my mom, but she's impulsive. If it weren't for me and Grant, our house would be full of every knick knack and as seen on tv garbage my mom could get her hands on. I was worried about her but I know that Grant will keep her under control.

"Are you guys ready?" Grant asked, spotting us hugging. Mom wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded her head yes. She hugged me one last time before leaving me standing in the living room.

"Goodbye." I whispered, as I looked around the home I had know for my whole life. I know that this transition will be hard but I want my mom to be happy. She deserved it.

* * *

Landing in the Lima, Ohio was like a kick to the stomach. There were more trees than people and there was no gray haze in the air, no hustle and bustle. Just boredom. Ugh. Everyone on the plane seemed excited about the flight to Ohio. Maybe they weren't staying. Anyway, I grabbed my bags from baggage claim and I searched the crowded airport for my dad. To my dismay, he still had on his white lab coat with the name tag that read _Gordon Jones, D.D.S.._

"Hey Mercy." he said hugging me awkwardly.

"Hey." I said returning the hug. Gordon reached down and took my bag and led me out of the airport. The car ride to the house was quiet. We exchanged silent glances and sweet smiles. When he first started the car he asked,

"Oh, is Marvin Gaye ok? We can put on that um, Drake if you want." I laughed. What the hell did Gordon know about Drake.

I said, "This is fine, Gor...dad. I like Marvin." He smiled and we drove home. I was surprised to see that more than I expect had changed in Lima. There might actually be some redeeming qualities, but that's yet to be determined.

The house was just as I remembered it. Two stories, short driveway, lots of windows.

"Welcome home Merc." Gordon said placing my bags beside the bed in my second floor bedroom. "I hope that zebra print is ok. I told the saleslady that you were eccentric and she pointed the towards this."

"Yeah. Zebra print is perfect. Thanks." I said with a smile. He smiled back before nodding and exiting the room. Gordon was never one to over stay a welcome. Unlike mom, he always gave me space.

The room was just as I remembered it. A built in closet, a dresser of drawers, a small desk with a printer and space for my laptop. A window near the bed and a bay window with a window seat. The walls were painted white now instead of the pale pink of my childhood, but as much as I didn't want it to, it still felt like home.

After unpacking and setting up my laptop and emailing my mom and some of my friends back in L.A. I headed downstairs. Gordon was in the kitchen struggling with the heat controls on the stove.

"Hey." I said leaning against the counter. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, I'm trying to get this to boil." he said twisting the knob back and forth, getting frustrated when the flat stove top didn't light up.

"You gotta have some patience." I said laughing. "Here let me do it." I said pushing him out of the way. He willingly let me take over.

"I've already registered you at the school." he said taking a seat at the small wooden table. I smile at him over my shoulder and continue to cook dinner. He watched me quietly and I began to make myself familiar with the kitchen. He set the table as I put the food in serving dishes. We ate in silence. It's not uncomfortable, it's just there. We don't need to talk. I'm like Gordon that way. I don't necessarily need people around me all the time. I like being alone.

"I'll do the dishes." he said wiping the last signs of the dinner I made away from his mouth. I gave him a nod and proceeded back upstairs. "Hey Mercy?" he called after me.

"Yeah dad." I answered turning at the top of the stairs to face him.

"Um I don't know if your mom made you go to church or anything but I'm going tomorrow if you want to come." I could see the hopeful look on his face, and he was right. My mom hadn't made me go to church. She didn't have a set religion but I often went with a few of my friends. Singing in the choir had become one of my favorite things to do.

"Yeah sure. That'd be great." I said. He smiled at me and returned to the kitchen. I showered and got ready for bed. The night felt like it drug by. Maybe it was because I barely slept. There is no noise in Lima. None. I crawled out of bed and pull up iTunes and started my Whitney playlist. After laying back down and singing a few of the songs I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Gordon and I got ready for church in silence. Mainly because we had to get up extra early. I wore my purple knee length dress with the black patent leather belt. I made my way downstairs and found Gordon drinking his coffee over the sink. He bids me good morning as I grab a bottle of grape juice from fridge and we left for church.

It was Gordon's job as the very faithful deacon to open the church. It was warm and smelled like fresh bread. I had always loved coming here as a child. I felt safe, like nothing, no matter how bad or scary, if I was inside the church, I was safe. All of this came rushing back as I stepped inside. I still loved going to church but I wasn't so sure about going to this church.

"You ok?" Gordon asked. I took a seat on a pew near the middle and nodded yes. "Ok, I'll see you later Mercy. I've gotta check on some other things around here." I sat quietly. Thinking.

"You must be Mercy Jones." a voice says from behind me. Turning I see a tall, slender boy with hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair. "I'm Jerry Daniels." he said extending his hand to me.

"Uh yeah. It's Mercedes." I said shaking his hand. He gave me a large smile and gave my hand a vigorous shake.

"Well, I run a blog about the inner workings of the McKinley High Glee Club." Jerry said, sitting next to me on the pew.

"Oh, do you belong to any clubs or anything?" I asked.

"NO!" he cackled. "It's totally gay." I gave him a faint smile. I didn't really like this guy. He was cute but he seemed like a dick. Plus, what's wrong with being in the clubs? "So tomorrow at school, just stick with me. I'll show you around."

"Great." I said, trying to hide my less than enthused tone. He smiled at me as he went back to sit with his family. Gordon came back right before the service started. I usually try to pay attention at church but I couldn't take my mind off the next day.

"Merc, you ready to go?" Gordon asked, touching my arm. I must have completely spaced out. I nod yes and followed out of the church. "So every Sunday for dinner I go to Breadstix. Would you like to come?"

"Yeah dad. That'd be great." I said smiling at him. He smiled back and continued driving. We arrived at the restaurant and the hostess knew Gordon by name.

"Merna, this is my daughter Mercedes." he said to the waitress. She gave me a big smile and touched my shoulder.

"You are just beautiful. I always knew you would be one of those classic beauties." she said sweetly.

"Thank you." I said trying not to blush. I really didn't like people fawning over me. I never have. When I was six years old I almost had a break down because my mom wanted to throw me this big birthday party.

"Well, do you still love fettuccine alfredo? Merna asked. I nodded yes, "Ok, I'll get you two orders and I'll bring your breadsticks."

"Sorry about that." Gordon said, quietly. Like me, he didn't like people to fuss over him. Even seeing it happen to other people brought heat to our cheeks.

"It's ok. No worries." I said. We sat silently as Merna served us. The food was pretty good. I mean it wasn't L.A. food but for Lima it was good. He smiled again and we finished our dinner in silence.

* * *

"Merc, you ready?" Gordon said as he slipped into his white lab coat.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I said grabbing my backpack. The ride to school was nerve wracking. I hated being "the new kid". I'll just keep my head down and make it through the day.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" Gordon asked, stopping in front of the school.

"No. I'll be ok. Thanks though." I said unbuckling my seat-belt.

"Alright then. I'll be home late tonight. I'm going to the see Travis Blue." Gordon said. "I'll send his son, Maverick, to pick you up after school."

"Maverick Blue? Oh I remember him now. We used to play Hollywood together." I said laughing at the memory.

"Yeah well, he'll be here at about 3:30pm." Gordon said, as I got out of the car.

"I'll be here." I said shutting the door behind me. I waved goodbye and I walked towards the school.

"Mercy Jones, right?" a dark skin boy with electric brown eyes asked stepping in front of me blocking my path.

"Uh yeah. Call me Mercedes." I said with a smile.

"I'm Greg Smith." He said returning the smile. "I will be your tour guide and confidant on your journey through McKinley. Is there anything I can help you with right now?"

"Can you show me where the office is?" I asked.

"Of course. Right this way." he said as he put his arm around me. I thought that the trip to the office was going to take forever. Everyone we passed was staring at me. I had forgotten what small towns were like. I tried to be friendly, giving a smile or a nod when someone waved at me, but I could feel myself blushing. "Here we are." Greg said holding the office door open for me.

"Thanks." I whispered, pushing past him. I approached the little lady sitting behind the high counter. "Hi, I'm Mercedes Jones. I'm new here." I said.

"Hello dear. Your father told me you were coming." she said smiling. I smiled back at her. The way this day is going, I won't be able to feel my cheeks by the end of the day. "You were all he's been talking about for weeks, to anyone who would listen." she said with a light laugh as she gathered some papers and sat them in front of me. "Ok dear, this is your schedule, your locker number and combination and this is attendance sheet. We require all students to get this signed by their teachers everyday and then it's turned into their homeroom teacher at the end of the week where you'll be given a new one. Ok?" she said sweetly. I smiled and nodded my head yes. "Ok. I'm Mrs. Piers. If you need anything just come to office and I'll help you. Ok?'

"Ok. Thank you." I said collecting all the paperwork. I turned from the desk and Greg was still waiting for me. "You didn't have to wait."

"I wanted to. So what's your first class?" he asked taking my schedule. "Cool, Murdoch. I've got him too. Let's go."

"Ok." I smiled and followed him out of the office. Greg talked a lot. Mostly about himself and the various sports he played. I just nodded and smiled and pretended like I was interested in what he was talking about.

"Mr. Murdoch, I've got a new student for you." he said to the teacher like he was presenting him with an award. I handed him my attendance sheet.

"Mercedes Jones. Ok, here's a book find an empty seat." he said signing the paper, handing me a book and never looking at me. _Fine, don't look at your new student. Whatever._ I searched the room for an empty seat. Spotting one I head toward it. I could feel everyone, including Greg watching me as I made my way to middle of the classroom. I place my book and my bag on the table and took my seat.

"What?" I asked quietly. Everyone that was staring stopped and returned their eyes to their own table. "Is everyone always so starey?" I asked the boy sitting next to me. When he doesn't answer, I turn to look at him. His dark green almost black eyes were piercing into mine. He looked, like he couldn't believe I was speaking to him. I turned away quickly and tried to listen to the lesson.

It was a hard task. This guy was worse than anyone else with the staring thing. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. He had no shame. Whenever I was glance over at him, he didn't even avert his eyes. When the bell rang he bolted from the room. I couldn't believe him. I hadn't said or done anything to him for him to behave like that. Whatever. I collected my things and met Greg at the door.

"So we've got gym next." he said looking at my schedule.

"Great." I said unable to hide the sarcasm in my voice. As if this day couldn't get any worse.

* * *

Gym wasn't as big of a disaster as I thought it was going to be. I only hit three kids with balls, which is surprising. I'm not the graceful but I'm not a complete klutz. I can take more than a step without falling or tripping but I will never be a ballerina.

"That wasn't so bad." a wafer thin girl said following me out of the girl's locker room.

"Yeah I guess it could have been worse." I said with a small smile.

"I'm April Briggs by the way." she said pulling her dark brown hair into a ponytail. "You're Mercy Jones right?"

"Mercedes. Yeah I am." I answered politely. Was there anyone in this town that Gordon didn't talk to about me?

"Well you can sit with me and my friends at lunch, if you want." April said walking with me to the cafeteria.

"Sounds like a plan." I smiled yet again. The lunch room was filled with round tables and everyone was separated into different groups. Cliques never mattered to me, I honestly saw no reason to change that. I went through the line with April and followed her to the table where her friends were sitting.

"Guys, this is Mercedes Jones." April said introducing me. Greg and Jerry looked up and waved at me before glaring at each other. "This is Trina Duncan and Sarah Matthews.

"Hi." I said taking a seat beside Greg. The two girls gave me a fake smile and then returned back to their conversation. I wasn't really hungry. My nerves had taken hold of me so I just played with my food while the people around me laughed and joked. While I was scanning the cafeteria, my gaze landed on a group of beautiful people entering the lunch room.

"Who are they?" I asked. It was meant to be a thought but my brain made me speak it.

"Who?" Trina asked turning in her seat, following my gaze. "Oh that's the Schuesters."

"Who?" I asked as I watched them seemingly glide across the room.

"Dr. and Mrs. Schuester's foster kids. They moved here from Minnesota like two years ago." April answered.

"Yeah, but they're together." Trina said. "Like together together."

"So they aren't related Trina." April said.

"I know but they all date each other. It's weird." Trina said, a twinge of discomfort in her voice. "Ok, the really tall one, that's Finn. He's the quarterback. He's with the little one, Rachel. McKinley's resident diva."

I watched them as they walked closer. They looked at each other like they were the only two people in the room.

"So the Asian guy, that's Mike. He's like this amazing dancer. Like perfect. He's with her. Tina." Trina explained jerking her head toward them. "She's really weird."

"She's in a few of my classes." April said quietly. "I think she's sweet."

"Right. Anyway, that girl right there is Santana. She's crazy. I wouldn't talk to her, like at all. She's with Brittany." Trina said as the two girls walked past our table, their pinkies intertwined. "Here comes Quinn Evans. She the captain of the Cheerios and the top bitch at this school. She's with the kid in the wheelchair, Artie. He's really smart and creative."

I watched as Quinn pushed Artie toward the table where the other members of their family were already sitting.

"That's Kurt." Trina said as the boy entered the lunch room. "He has a boyfriend, Blaine Anderson. He goes to Dalton Academy. They've only been together for a little while but Kurt is totally fashion forward and Blaine is dreamy." When Sarah opened her mouth to speak, Trina interrupted, "And yes Sarah I know he's gay." Sarah clamped her mouth shut and sank down in her chair.

"Here comes Sarah's crush." April joked. I spotted a boy in a leather jacket and a mohawk.

"That's Noah Puckerman, but everyone calls him Puck. He's a badass. Like literally. I heard that he stabbed a guy." Trina said her voice almost excited. "He went to juvie and everything. He dates...everyone. Literally. But he has this on and off thing going with Lauren Zizes. She's on the wrestling team. See I told you. They're all together.

"Well maybe Mr. Schue will adopt me." April teased.

"Who's that?" I said spotting the boy I sat beside in my first class.

"That's Sam Evans. He's Quinn's twin brother and he's totes hot but he's not interested in dating. At least not anyone around here." Trina said in an offensive tone. "So I wouldn't waste my time.

"As if I would even have a chance." I said, my eyes following him as he walked past our table. Trina was right. Sam was hot, but there was something about him that I found...intriguing.

When the bell rang I stood and turned to see Sam staring at me. I should have been uncomfortable but I wasn't. I just gave him a small wave and exited the cafeteria.


	2. You put on a good show Mercedes Jones

**A/N: Hey guys! So here's chapter 2. So I'm gonna clear some things up. (See end of chapter)**

**Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: Glee, The Twilight Saga or any of the characters, places, words or phrases from either._**

**_-The conversation between Sam and Mercedes is verbatim with movie. (I don't know that.) But I suggest you read his lines as S3 Sam. The delivery is better._**

_**AGAIN THIS STORY IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL.**_

* * *

"Mercy!" a voice called as I exited the school. I looked up and I saw a teenage boy jogging toward me. "Hey." he said stopping in front of me. He looked almost the same as he did when he was little. Now he had long black hair and when he smiled it reached his eyes and you couldn't help but smile too.

"Hey Mav." I said. "Thanks for picking me up."

"Oh it's cool. It was either that or hang out with our dads. It was a clear choice." he said laughing..

"Thanks." I said feigning offense. "So, why didn't I see you at school today?" I asked once inside his father's truck.

"I go to school on the rez." he answered pulling out of the parking lot.

"Oh. That's too bad. It would have been nice to see at least one familiar face in the halls." I said trying to hide my disappointment. "Well, where are we going? We past my house."

"Gordy said to bring you to my house." Maverick said.

"Ok." I said looking out the window.

"Don't be so excited Mercy." he joked. "I don't want to have to restrain you."

"I'd like to see you try it!" I said laughing. Maverick made my all the awkwardness of my school day go away. I didn't have to force a smile on my face, it just appeared naturally.

I told him all about my mom traveling the country with Grant and GFC and about how Gordon should be glad that I'm here because he must have just been eating toast before I arrived. I made him laugh when I told him about the kids I hit in gym. It was so easy to talk to Maverick. It was like I had never left.

"Where are we going?" I asked when big houses with big wrought iron gates started coming into view.

"A little past Westerville." he answered. "What to small town for you?" he teased.

"Ohio is to small town for me." I said. "Damn, these houses are huge Mav."

"I know. It's kinda disgusting actually." he said looking at the houses on his left and right.

"I was going to say beautiful, but ok." I said nudging him with my elbow. "Where do you live?"

"It's coming up." he said pulling in from a large gate. He got out of the car and opened the gate. We drove through and climbed the gravel covered road past the long stretch of trees and some much smaller houses until we parked in front of a large house.

"Is this the rez?" I asked.

"Yeah." he said as he pulled the keys from the ignition.

"You and you dad live here?" I said dumbfounded. The house had two stories and a separate garage. It was made of beautiful red brick and everything was framed in white.

"Yeah, well my sisters come home sometimes." he answered getting out of the truck.

"I'm sorry Maverick, but I don't remember this place." I said getting out as he holds the door open for me.

"That's because the house got built after my dad's accident. Everything's wheelchair accessible." he explained pointing to the ramp leading to the front door. I nodded my head in understanding. I remember when Gordon called my mom to tell her about Travis's accident.

He was driving during a storm and he said that there was an animal in the road. Gordon said that he said that he tried to swerve to miss it but the front end was crushed completely like it had wrapped around something hard, even though when they found him, his car was in the middle of the road.

"Hello Mercy." Travis said as Maverick and I entered the living room. The items on the inside of the house were just as I remembered it. Smooth wood floors, the same furniture and Native American sculptures and art everywhere.

"Hey Travis. This place is still beautiful." I said with a smile.

"Thank you. Your dad's in the garage. You should head on out there." he said with a wink.

"Oh. Ok." I said. I was kind of nervous. When people wink at you it's usually because there is a surprise you don't want or they are setting you up for some other kind of disappointment. "Dad?"

"Over here Merc." Gordon calls out to me. As I get closer I see him standing beside something covered up. "So, I know that you don't want to ride the bus and I'm not always going to be able to drive you to school."

"Yeah the bus would kill me." I laughed.

"Well I bought this off of Travis as a welcome home gift for you." he said as he unveiled a car.

"Oh my god! Really?!" I shouted. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Well I wanted to." Gordon said with a smile.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said hugging him tightly.

"No problem. Just take good care of her." he said returning my hug.

"I see you like your car." Maverick said as he pushed his father closer to us.

"Yeah. Thank you guys so much." I said hugging them both.

"Well it was supposed to be mine, but out of the goodness of my heart I told my dad he could sell it to Gordy here." Mav said with a smile.

"Only after I told him he couldn't paint it." Travis said laughing.

"Dad." Maverick said his cheeks flushing a light pink. I pretended like I didn't notice.

"Well why couldn't you paint it?"

"That's the stock color." he answered.

"Pink? That is so awesome! Can I get in?"

"It's yours." Gordon said handing me the keys. I squealed and grabbed them and ran over to the car. The door was heavy and sturdy. It make a squeak on it hinges but Maverick assured me that it was supposed to sound like that.

"This is so amazing." I said quietly.

"You like it?" Maverick asked me getting in the passenger seat.

"That is an understatement." I said laughing. "This car is bad ass."

"Yeah it's a 1967 Mustang. Of course it's bad ass." Mav said with a crooked smile. "It's got a 289 Hi-Po engine, the '67 was the last time they used the 289. It's a 390 cubic-inch, 6.4L V-8 engine. 320 horsepower. It's a thing of beauty."

"I have no idea what any of that means but if you say it's good, then it is." I said smiling. "So why wouldn't your dad let you paint the car?"

"Because Playboy Pink is the stock color." he said but noticing the confusion on my face he continued. "When it came off the line in 1967, it was this color."

"Ohh. Awesome. So where should we go?" I asked.

"You're going home." Gordon said leaning in the driver's side window. "Sorry Mav. Maybe some other time."

"No worries. I'll see you tomorrow Mercy." Maverick said getting out of the car.

"Bye." I said. "So are we going home or to the Stix?" I asked.

"Home. Leftovers are ok with me." Gordon said. I nodded my head and followed him out and back home.

XXXXX

The next day at school people were a lot less "let's stare that Mercedes", which was a good thing because I was starting to develop an anxiety disorder.

"Hey Mercedes." Greg said meeting me at my locker.

"Hey." I said placing my books in my locker.

"So, crazy weather we're having huh?" he said nervously.

"Uh yeah. I guess. It doesn't snow here often?"

"Every year but it's never like freak out of the blue like this." Greg said.

"Oh. Well I haven't been in snow in forever so, I was kinda shocked this morning." I said, just trying to make conversation.

"Yeah well I see you've got your snow boots on." he said pointing to the zebra print snow boots on my feet.

"My dad bought them for me." I said, turning my feet showing them off.

"Bought you what?" Trina asked walking up to us with April and Sarah on either side of her.

"Oh my boots. My dad bought them for me." I answered.

"Oh." Lauren said deadpanned. "Cute, I guess."

"Yeah well they're not for everyone." I said.

"I think they're cute." April said with a smile.

"Thanks. Well I'll see you guys later." I said leaving the crowd. I walked toward Mr. Murdoch's class preparing myself for what I was going to say to Sam Evans. I practiced telling him off, telling him that you don't just stare at people, it's rude. I was confident. I knew that I could do this. I psyched myself up the whole way to the classroom.

When I got there, he's wasn't at our table. Ok, so I'm here first. Perfect. I run the things I want to say to him through my head again and again. Making sure it's exactly what I want to say.

_Riiiinnnggg. _No Sam. Of course that was just my luck. He wasn't in class. I didn't see him in the halls or at lunch. Maybe he's sick. I hope he's ok, No Mercedes. No feeling sorry for him. He was rude.

XXXXX

"How was your day?" Gordon asked me as we sat down to a dinner of steak and mashed garlic and herb potatoes.

"It was good." I said cutting into my steak making no mention of Sam Evans.

"That's good to hear. You making friends?"

"I've made a few I guess. I'm new you know. So I just I'm just playing the waiting game." I answered.

"Mmhm." Gordon said with a full mouth. After dinner, I cleaned all the dishes up and brought Gordon a beer in the living room.

"I'm gonna go call mom." I said as I ran upstairs to my bedroom and dialed my mom on my cell.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey mom!" I said excitedly.

"Hey baby! What's going on?" she asked.

"Not a whole lot." I asked.

"How are you liking Lima?"

"It's ok." I lied. My mom answered me with a sigh. I could hear her telling Grant in the background that it was me on the phone.

"Grant says he misses you." she said happily.

"I miss you guys too." I said wiping away the tears that are forming in my eyes.

"So, tell me about school. I know it's only been a few days but are you making any friends?" my mom asked.

"Well for the most part everyone has been great. Of course there are always those sour apples that just trying to make your life miserable but it's nothing I can't handle." I said calmly as I could. The moment she asked me the question my brain clicked to Sam Evans. Staring at me like I had a horrible scar on my face and he just couldn't look away.

"Well it'll get better baby. I promise." she said in her reassuring mother voice.

"I believe you." I said. "I better go Mom. Tell Grant I love him and I'll call you guys later."

"Ok baby. Sleep tight." I hung up the phone and crawled in bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next five days sped by. Three of those days I spent wondering where Sam was. He had missed an entire week of school. It was strange. His adopted siblings were all still attending school regularly and they all seemed to have picked up his habit of staring at me. I was thankful for the weekend. I spent it driving my car around Lima trying to get myself reacquainted. I waved at the few familiar faces I recognized from school.

"Hey." Gordon said when I arrived home. I gave him a small smile and headed up to my room to work on my homework. Not knowing a lot of people and being alone allotted me a lot of time to do my school work. I had everything done by Sunday morning before church.

"Do you mind if I stay home today?" I asked Gordon as I watched him tie his tie in the mirror.

"Sure if you want." he answered.

"I've just got some homework to finish." I lied.

"Alright well I'll be back in a little while." he said grabbing his keys. "Do you want me to pick you up before I go to Breadstix?"

"Sure if you want." I said with a smile. I spent the entire day trying on different combinations of outfits for tomorrow's school day. I did this every night just in case Sam came back the next day, but I had a feeling about tomorrow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning I woke up and took a shower. I dressed in electric blue jeans, a black tank, a white t-shirt with zebra print on the front and flat motorcycle boots. I did my hair is big curls and side bangs.

"You ready for school?" Gordon asked me as I clunked down the stairs.

"Yeah. I wish this snow would ease up." I said peaking out of the window.

"Well according to the forecast it's going be coming down for the rest of the week." Gordon said handing me a cup of hot tea.

"Thanks. Well I'm gonna pour this in a thermos." I said.

"Ok when you're done come on outside. I've got something to show you." he said with a smile.

"Ok." I poured my tea in a thermos and headed out the door. As I got to bottom of the stone steps, I slipped on the ice. "God!"

"You ok?" Gordon asked with a chuckle as he helped me up.

"Yeah, I just have to remember that its one foot and then the other." I said with a grunt.

"Alright well, I got you some snow tires." he said kicking my tires.

"Thanks." I said taking a sip of my tea.

"Don't worry about it." he said. "I'll see you later Merc."

"Later Dad." I said getting into my Mustang. The drive to school wasn't long enough. I was still preparing myself for what I was going to say to Sam. I got out of my car and ran into the building. I avoided Jerry and Greg and went straight to my locker.

"Hey." a voice behind me said.

"Hi." I said. Turning around I saw a boy that I recognized from some of my classes but didn't know personally.

"I'm Robbie Woodson." he said.

"Mercedes." I said with a smile.

"I know we haven't spoken before but you know a lot of my friends so I figured I'd introduce myself to you." he said.

"That's sweet." I said closing my locker. "It was really nice to meet you. I've gotta go."

"I'll catch you at lunch." he called after me. I waved over my shoulder. Robbie was cute. He had dark brown skin, light brown eyes, black cornrowed hair and a slightly muscular frame. But I didn't have any interest in him. Like none. I rushed through the crowded hallway to my first class. When I entered the room, sitting at our table in the middle of the room was Sam. Just as gorgeous as ever. I took a deep breath and took my seat. Neither of us spoke. More people filed into the room and the bell rang. Mr. Murdoch stood in front of the classroom and began the lesson. Sam picked up where he left off with staring at me.

"So work in pairs and the first team to turn the assignment in..." Mr. Murdoch started.

"Gets the prize? Yes!" Greg said as he high-fived Jerry.

"Don't get to excited. The answers have to be correct." Mr. Murdoch said. "So the first pair that turns in the assignment with the _correct_ answers gets...two gift cards to Breadstix."

"I have to win." a girl in the back of the class squealed. I looked down at the worksheet in front of me. It was on a book I already read.

"Hello." a sexy voice said. I looked around the room trying to figure out who had said it. No one was looking at me except for him. His plain white t-shirt was stretched tightly across his muscled chest and shoulders and he sat with the most amazing posture I had ever seen. His green eyes were different today. They weren't just green they were light green and they had shiny flecks in them, like diamonds. "I'm Sam Evans." he said with an easy crooked smile. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Mercedes Jones." Like an idiot, I just nodded my head repeatedly like a cat following a laser light.

"Um, how did you know my name?" I asked finally finding my voice.

"You seem to be very popular around here." he answered lightly. "I think everyone knows your name."

"No." I said giggling like a fool. "I mean how did you know to call me Mercedes?"

"I'm sorry. Do you prefer Mercy?" he asked sincerity in his voice.

"No." I said quietly. He smiled the sweetest, sexiest smile I'd ever seen and nodded his head. I had to look away. I couldn't breathe. The fact that fifteen minutes ago I was ready to call him a jerk and tell him that he needed to switch seats if he was going to continue to be rude to me was mind boggling. He was so beautiful and the feeling that I had when I was around him was...incredible.

"Would you like to fill out the worksheet, or would you like me to?" he asked me softly.

"Huh?"

"The worksheet?" he asked pointing to the paper in front of me.

"Oh, um you can do it." I said sliding him the paper. I watched as he scrolled our names and the date across the top of the paper. It was like something you'd see out of a movie about the Titanic. I read the first question and had the answer in my head. I watched his pen move down to the first question and he quickly wrote the answer. "Do you mind if I look?" I asked biting my bottom lip.

"Sure." he said with a light chuckle as he slid the paper to me. Damn, he was right. I read the second question and I knew that answer as well, I reached for the pen that he had sat on the table between us. I hadn't realized that he had reached for it at the same time. "Sorry." he said quickly moving his hand away.

"It's ok." I said with a sweet smile. My insides were reeling. My hand was still tingling where he touched it. I picked up the pen and wrote the answered. I frowned when I looked at his handwriting compared to mine. His was elegant and perfect. Mine was messy and crooked. I placed the pen on the paper.

"May I?" he asked with a grin. I smiled back and slid the paper back to him. I saw him smirk at my answer. We flew threw the rest of the questions. Since we were the first ones done Mr. Murdoch went over the paper. Then he looked at Sam and then at me.

"Ms. Jones were you in the advanced placement program in L.A.?" he asked.

"Yes sir." I answered.

"Oh." he said slightly annoyed. "I guess it's good you two are partners." he said before he muttered something and walked away from our table.

After a few moments of silence he spoke again. "Are you enjoying the snow?" I just looked at him. I was in shock. He was MIA for five days and now he wants to make small talk.

"Depends on what you mean." I answered.

"You don't like the cold." he said as if he was stating a fact.

"Or the wet."

"Lima must be difficult for you. Especially right now." he said locking his eyes on mine.

"You have no idea." I muttered. He looked amused by my answer.

"Why did you come here then?"

"Uh...it's complicated."

"I think I can keep up." he said with a smug smile.

"My mom got remarried." I said after a long pause.

"That doesn't sound so complex." he said. "When did that happen?"

"Last September." I said sadly.

"You don't like him?" he asked concern showing in his voice.

"No, uh Grant is fine. He's a little young but he's nice." I answered sincerely. I really did like Grant. He was good for my mom.

"Why didn't you stay with them?"

"Grant travels a lot. He plays music for a living." I answered. I made eye contact with him. It was surprising to me that he was genuinely interested.

"Have I heard of him?" he asked.

"Probably not. His band only has a small fan base. Strictly around L.A. That's why he always traveling."

"And your mother sent you here so she could go with him." he said as if he was stating another fact about my life.

"No. I sent myself here."

"I don't understand." he said his pouty lips in a thin line. His eyes showing frustration at the lack of understanding.

"She stayed home with me at first, but she missed him. I knew it made her unhappy so I decided to come spend time with Gordon." I said glumly.

"But now you're unhappy." he said his hand flat on the desk.

"Uh." I said kind of annoyed at how well he read my emotions.

"That doesn't seem fair." he said his diamond flecked eyes boring into mine.

"Has anyone ever told you that life isn't fair." I said with a fake laugh.

"I believe I have heard that _somewhere _before." he said dryly.

"So that's all." I said trying to end this conversation before I said something stupid.

"You put on a good show Mercedes Jones." he said slowly. "But I'm willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see." I didn't even look at him. I had the urge to roll my eyes at him but I fought it. "Am I wrong?" I still ignored him. "I didn't think so." he said smugly under his breath.

"Why does it matter to you?" I asked. I couldn't help myself. His smug tone got to me.

"That's a very good question." he said quietly as if he was talking to himself. After he didn't say anything else, I rolled my eyes and looked away from him. "Am I annoying you?"

"Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself." I said uneasily. "My face is so easy to read...my mom calls me her little open book." I frowned.

"I disagree. I find you very difficult to read." he said with a chuckle.

"You must be a good reader than."

"Usually." he said smiling, his perfect teeth making his face look even more beautiful.

"May I ask you something?" I asked in whisper as Mr. Murdoch starting speaking again.

"Of course." he answered.

"Did you get contacts?" I asked looking into his eyes.

"No." he said flatly. He blinked quickly and looked away from me.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Your eyes look different today."

"Yes. I'm sure." he said not looking at me.

"Ok." I whispered. We spent the last few minutes of class in silence. When the bell rang, he gave me a brief smile and bolted from the room.

* * *

**A/N2: Things I'm clearing up:**

**-Yes, this is a Glee twist on Twilight.**

**-No, Mercedes will NOT have the same self-esteem issues that Bella had; but she will have a few.**

**-Yes, Maverick Blue is Native American.**

**-Yes, I plan to use the werewolf thing but it's gonna be different.**

**-Ok, so anything else you wanna know, feel feel to ask me or just read and find out!**


	3. first night I dreamed about Sam Evans

**A/N: Hey guys! Thank so you so much for your support of this story. So, I've got good new and bad news. The good news is: here's chapter 3! Yay! The bad news is I've had the first 3 chapters typed for a while so it'll be a few day until you get chapter 4. Sorry. **

**But keep reviewing and all of that stuff. I'll have it up soon.**

**Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: Glee, The Twilight Saga, any of the characters, places, words, phrases, conversations or anything else that you can find in either world. The OCs are my own creation and belong soley to me._**

* * *

"So, you got lucky getting Evans as a partner." Greg said following me to my locker.

"Yeah I guess." I said sliding the Breadstix gift cards into my backpack.

"That worksheet was ridiculous." he said leaning against the locker next to mine.

"I didn't have any problem with it."

"Oh." Greg said in a pained voice.

"I had read the book before." I answered quickly.

"Oh cool." he said with a smile. "So Evans seemed extra friendly today."

"Yeah, I wonder what was wrong with him last week." I commented trying to sound casual. Greg just shrugged and began talking about basketball and some other sports as we walked to gym.

xxx

The next day I was sure to dress cute again. Red skinny jeans, a black boyfriend tee and a cheetah print blazer. I slid my feet into my motorcycle boots again and headed down stairs.

Gordon was in the kitchen, standing over the sink eating a bowl of cereal.

"Dad what are you doing?" I asked taking the bowl from him and putting it on the table.

"I gotta eat." he said taking a seat. I rolled my eyes and grabbed two eggs, the milk, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. I smiled to myself when I saw Gordy lean up as I cracked the eggs and added my ingredients. I scrambled them and dished them out onto a plate and sat across from him at the table. "Those smell good, Merc."

"Thanks. I learned it from that thing." I said as I jabbed some fluffy eggs onto my fork.

"What thing?" he asked as he watched me put the yellow goodness in my mouth.

"A cookbook." I said with a laugh.

"Right." Gordy said rolling his eyes. "I'll be home late. Going over to Travis's today."

"For what?" I asked as I watched him rinse his bowl out.

"We're headed out to Winston Littleleaf's place." he answered.

"Yeah ok." I said adding my plate to the sink. Gordan and I left the house at the same time. He went one way I went another.

I got to school in time to see Sam and his family pulling into their spaces. Finn pulled in to his spot first. He drove he big black jacked up Ford F-150 with Rachel riding shotgun and Mike and Tina in the back seat. Puck pulled in next and parked his blacked out Harley with Lauren Zizes on the back. Kurt pulled in next; he drove a navy blue Lincoln Navigator. Quinn rode in the passenger seat and Artie in the back, his wheelchair in the storage area. Santana drove a cherry red; Mercedes Brittany by her side. Then finally I saw him. Sam. He pulled in the last spot in the row. He drove a blacked out Audi TT. It was beautiful and it fit him. I watched him get out of the car. All of his movements were so fluid and smooth. I felt my cheeks flush when he caught me staring at him. His intense stare made me look away.

"Hey girl." Greg said as he, April, Trina, Sarah and Jerry approached me.

"Hey." I said turning my back to the beautiful Schuesters. "What's going on?"

"Wakeboarding in Westerville." Jerry said as he pretended to be hopping waves.

"There's gonna be a bonfire too." April said quietly. "You should come."

"Yeah it's Westerville." Jerry said still fake wakeboarding.

"I'll go just as long as you stop doing that." I said causing everyone to laugh. The bell ran and we all started toward the school. As I walked with April I felt eyes follow me until I was inside.

When I got to Mr. Murdoch's class Sam was sitting at our table.

"Hello." he said.

"Hi." I said pulling my notebook out.

"How are you?"

"I'm good." I said blushing slightly. Sam was so beautiful and a little difficult to look at. "How are you?"

"I am...good." he said looking away. Before I could ask him anything else class started. All through class I could feel his eyes on me. I never looked at him. It didn't feel like the creepy staring from the first day so it didn't really bother me.

"So, if you want to go to the Lima Historical Library of World Literary Works on Friday, get these permission slips back to me by no later than Wednesday." Mr. Murdoch said as he went around passing out the slips. I put the permission slip into my backpack just as the bell rang. I looked up and Sam was gone. He must really hate Mr. Murdoch. He can never wait to get out of this room.

The rest of the day went by pretty seamlessly. I didn't hurt anyone is gym and as an added bonus I didn't hurt myself either. April walked with me to my locker before we headed to lunch. I got my tray and joined the table. The boys spent the lunch period talking about the weekend trip to Westerville.

"Do you know him or something?" Sarah asked me in a snotty tone.

"Who?" I asked her, keeping my eye rolling in check.

"Sam Evans." she said, folding her arms across her chest. "He's staring at you."

"We're English partners." I said glancing over my shoulder at him. "I wouldn't say I know him."

"Oh." Sarah said, relief in her voice. The bell rang and I watched as Sam and his siblings left the cafeteria without another look my way.

After school, I stood by my car digging around in my backpack for my keys. I could feel Sam's eyes on me but I only looked at him once. I popped my earbuds in and continued my search.

"MERCEDES!" I heard April yell. I turned just in time to see several things happen at once. The side of Robbie Woodson's 1999 Ford Explorer coming at me full speed ahead and Sam Evan's standing between me and the out of control SUV. I went to run, slipped, hit my head on my car and before I hit the ground Sam caught me and held his hand out and stopped the oncoming car. Time froze for a few seconds. I looked in to his diamond flecked green eyes and I saw something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but it was something. Before I could ask him what the hell happened he was gone. I was surrounded by my other classmates and Robbie was hanging out of his passenger side window, his mouth gaped open.

"I'm so sorry, Mercedes." he pleaded with me.

"Robbie what the hell man?!" Greg shouted as he knelt down beside me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I think so." I said, holding the spot on the back of my head.

"I called 911." April said panicked. Within minutes the EMTs were checking Robbie and I out and loading us into the back of ambulances headed straight for the hospital.

* * *

"Mercedes!" Gordon said as he marched determinedly over to my bed. "Are you alright? What happened out there?"

"I'm sorry Dr. Jones." Robbie said from the bed beside me. "It was black ice. I lost control. I'm so sorry."

"You should be." Gordon said angrily.

"Dad. It's ok." I said quietly as the nurse finished taking my blood pressure and jotting down her findings.

"I heard Lima's best dentist was here." a tall, pale dark hair man said as he entered the treatment room.

"Dr. Schuester." Gordon said shaking the man's hand.

"Gordon." he said with a warm smile. "You must be Mercy."

"Mercedes." I said shyly. He was gorgeous. His dark curls and brown eyes. His clothes fit his toned body perfectly. His voice was calm and patient. Almost hypnotizing. "It says here you hit your head." he said reading the chart the nurse handed him before she walked away. "Let have a look." He shone the tiny flashlight in my eyes and made me follow it. "There's no signs of head trauma although you may suffer from minor PTSD or become disoriented." I chuckled to myself. I didn't need head trauma to become disoriented, my feet did that for me.

"I'm really sorry Mercedes." Robbie said before Gordon shut the curtain.

"Well, it would have been a lot worse if Sam hadn't been there." I said trying to gauge Dr. Schuester's reaction. "He knocked me out of the way."

"Sam? You're son right?" Gordon said to him.

"Yeah, it was amazing. He was there in an instant. He was nowhere near me."

"Sound like you were very lucky." he said with a brief smile. "Gordon." he said before leaving me with my dad. About thirty minutes later, I was discharged and as Gordon and I were leaving I spotted Sam and his sister Rachel talking with their father.

"Twenty people saw you today." Rachel said annoyed.

"What was I supposed to do? Let her die?" Sam said jamming his hands into his pockets.

"This isn't just about you. This is about all of us." Rachel said folding her arms across her chest.

"I think we should take this to my office." Dr. Schuester said when he spotted me. He put his hand on Rachel's back and led her down the hallway. Sam, turned and approached me.

"Can we talk?" I asked him.

"What?" he said avoiding my eyes.

"What happened today?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you get over to me so fast?" I asked frustrated already.

"I was standing right next to you." Sam answered.

"No way. You were by your car. On the other side of the parking lot." I said positively.

"No I wasn't." he chuckled nervously.

"Yeah. You were." I pushed.

"Mercedes...you hit your head." he said in a low voice. "I think you're confused."

"No." I said shaking my head. "I know what I saw."

"And what is it that you think you saw?"

"You stopped the SUV. With your hand." I said. I couldn't understand why he was being this way. We were both there. We both knew what happened. "I saw it. You pushed it away with your hand."

"Well, no one's going to believe you so..." he began but didn't finish.

"I wasn't going to say anything." I said softly. "I just need to know the truth."

"Can't you just thank me and move on?" Sam asked suddenly angry.

"Thank you." I said haughtily.

"You're not going to let this go are you?" he asked annoyed.

"No."

"Well, then I hope you enjoy disappointment." he said said as he stormed off toward his father's office. I couldn't believe him. I turned on my heel and went and found Gordon. I was ready to leave and be as far away from Sam Evans as I could.

When we got home Gordy made me sit in the living room in his lumpy recliner while he struggled through dinner. The grilled cheese was only slightly burnt and the tomato soup was only partially cold so I figured small victories. I handed my bowl and plate back to him before I headed upstairs. I took a hot shower and as I sat on my bed brushing my hair my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Oh my God! You're ok!" my mom yelled into the phone. I covered the phone so that she couldn't hear my audible groan. Gordon must've told her about the stupid accident. I hadn't looked at all my missed texts, calls and voicemails since we left the hospital.

"I'm fine, mom. Don't worry." I said trying to reassure her. "I'm at home."

"Baby, I've been calling you all afternoon." Mom said, the panic easing from her voice.

"I know. I was at the hospital and then I just didn't look at the phone but I'm ok." I told her. She didn't need to know all the weird details about my accident. I didn't understand them so I knew I couldn't explain them.

"You promise you're alright?" she asked.

"I promise." I said. "I'm just tired."

"Oh I'm sorry. It's late over there." Mom said sympathetically. "I'll let you go. Call me tomorrow, ok."

"I will. I love you Mom."

"I love you too baby." she said before I heard the click. I put my phone on the nightstand, pulled on my zebra print cotton shorts and silky purple cami. I turned on my smooth R&B mix and I climbed into bed. When I closed my eyes all I saw was Sam stopping that SUV. Rescuing me. I opened my eyes. I sighed heavily as I reached up and turned out the lamp. As I got comfortable, _LSG's My Body_ lulled me to sleep.

_I opened my eyes when I heard someone shout my name. I opened them in time to see Robbie's SUV hurtling toward me. I was so scared. I couldn't even scream and I couldn't move. Suddenly, I'm in the arms of Sam. He pushed the SUV away with his hand as he held me __tightly. __I stared into his hypnotizing green eyes and all of a sudden we were in a lavish bedroom. __Plush carpets, a solid oak four poster bed__ covered in silk sheets__, the room was a deep blue. He laid me down gently on the bed and before I knew it I was naked. _

_ I felt slightly self-conscious as his eyes studied my body. I blushed when I saw a smirk touch his lips. __He leaned down and kissed me passionately. I had never been kissed like this. The heat and strength of the kiss caused my body to ache for him. I moaned into his mouth as his fingertips found my erect nipple. He broke our kiss, leaned down and slid his tongue across my nipple before he brought his mouth back to mine. I felt his hand travel down my stomach and I broke the kiss. _

_ Sam stared deeply into my eyes as his middle finger found my clit. I moan__ed__ and tried to look away but he grabbed my chin and shook his head no as he gently rubbed the hardening nub. I inhaled sharply when he slid not one but two fingers into me. He smirked again when my pussy squeezed around him. Sam pumped his two fingers in and out of me while his thumb rubbed my clit. I closed my eyes and moaned again. _

_ I couldn't believe what was happening but I didn't want it to stop. Sam apparently didn't either because he slid a third finger inside of my tight pussy. The sensation of being so full caused my eyes to fly open. I arched my back and pushed myself on this fingers harder. _

_ Sam pushed my legs wider and he __tilted his head and sucked my clit in to his luscious lips. The sound I made was unnatural but he knew what he was doing with his tongue and fingers. As he slammed his fingers deeper, harder and faster into my wet, throbbing pussy, he nipped at my clit. I arched my back as the threat of my oncoming orgasm hit me. I looked down my body to see that he was staring at me. Sam slid his tongue across my clit slowly._

I woke up panting. What the hell was that? I turned on my side and in the corner of my room in the shadows I thought I saw him. Sam. Watching me. I reached over to turn on the lamp. When I looked back he was gone. That was the first night that I dreamed about Sam Evans.

* * *

I woke up the next morning confused. What was with that dream last night? I barely knew Sam and here I was having sex dreams about him. Awesome Mercedes. I showered, dressed and headed downstairs to start breakfast before Gordon tried his hand at the culinary arts again.

I scrambled some eggs, fried us each two slices of applewood bacon. I put that on toast and it was waiting for him when he entered the kitchen.

"Oh, thanks Merc." Gordon said with a smile as he joined me at the table. "How you feelin' today?"

"I feel fine." I answered. It was the truth. I did feel fine.

"Good, but if school is too much..."

"I'll call and let you know I'm going home." I said. Gordon had went over the exit strategy yesterday after I told him that I was going to school the next day. I didn't tell him that I wanted to go to school because I wanted to see Sam. I wasn't done with him. "I'm sure I'll be fine, Dad."

"Yeah but still." he said taking a sip of his coffee. I nodded my understanding. He was worried. I completely got that.

We finished breakfast and he washed up the dishes. We went outside together, waved then he went one way and I went another. I arrived at school just time to see Sam and his siblings heading toward the building.

"Damn!" Greg said as I got out of my car.

"What?" I asked looking down at my outfit.

"That dent is vicious." he said pointing to the back end of my 'Stang.

"I know." I said sadly. "I can't afford to get it fixed yet."

"What are you gonna do?" he asked as we walked toward the school.

"Get a job I guess." I answered as we approached my locker.

"My parents own a music store." Greg volunteered. "This college guy just quit so they're looking for help."

"That'd be great. Thank you." I said beaming at him. He smiled a wide smile as I shut my locker. On the way to Mr. Murdoch's class, Greg filled me in on the type of job I'd be doing at the music store. Digital inventory, cashier, listening to Top 40 all afternoon. It seemed easy enough. When we entered the room, Greg handed Mr. Murdoch his permission slip. I had thankfully got Gordy to sign mine yesterday while he was waiting on me hand and foot. I put mine on the desk and headed toward my seat.

"Hello, Mercedes." Sam said in a low tone. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." I said slightly annoyed. "Why are you acting like the last time we talked it was pleasant?"

"I'm not. I was being polite." he said looking away from me.

"Save it." I said as the lesson began. When the bell rang, Sam once again bolted from the room. This time though I assume it had something to do with me. I went to gym and I only injured two people so it wasn't an epic fail. I walked with April to lunch. I stood in line behind her as she listed all of the things she was bringing to the bonfire in Westerville this Saturday. I nodded even though I was barely listening. Sam was staring at me. In that instant his green gaze made me blush. It was the same look he had had in my dream last night. Get a grip, girl.

"I'm so _not_ looking forward to this dumb field trip on Friday." Sarah said.

"Me either." Trina said. "Who cares about a dumb library?" I rolled my eyes at their conversation. I cared about the dumb library.

"So, can you do that Mercedes?" I heard April say.

"Huh?" I said. I felt bad for not paying attention to her. April was sweet and we were fast friends but lunch was always uncomfortable for me. It's hard to concentrate when there are eyes constantly on you.

"Oh, I was just asking if you could bring like six or seven of those monster bags of chips. All flavors." she repeated happily.

"Sure. I can do that." I said. She smiled brightly at me as she directed her attention to Greg, Robbie and Jerry. I turned in my chair slightly and met Sam's eyes. We held eye contact until the bell rang. I got up disposed of my tray. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time. When I got to the door, I turned to look back at him but he was gone.


	4. That's the Legend of Our Tribe

**A/N: Hi guys. So there are a few things I want to tell you about in this chapter. **

**1-A lot of the conversations are almost, if not, verbatim but the narration is completely original.**

**2-The name of Maverick's tribe is Daculettes. (Dah-coo-lets) That is entirely made up. I figures it was better to make up a tribe and their lore than to use a real tribe and twist their legends to meet my needs for this fic. So the tribe does NOT belong to a nation of Native Americans and their lore is all mine and my sister's.**

**3-I make mention of Mav's great great grandfather. His name is Elason (E-lay-son) Blue.**

**Ok, Happy Reading!**

**An as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: Glee, it's characters, Bing or anything thing else you can find in the world outside of fandom. I DO own, all of the OCs, Stone & Colt Bookstore, The Lima Historical Library of World Literary Works and the breakfast scramble. (I can give you the recipe. It's amazballs!)_**

**THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.**

* * *

When Friday finally came, I got up earlier than usual. I showered, put on zebra print jeans, a black cami and a purple sweater that said _Diva_ across the front is zebra print. I headed downstairs to make something for Gordon for breakfast. I figured since I had to leave early for the field trip, he would probably end up eating cereal over the sink again and that was a sad thing to witness.

So, I decided that the best way to go was a breakfast scramble. I grabbed four eggs, pancake mix, eight sausage links, one bell pepper, milk, onion, garlic, tomatoes, oregano and shredded cheddar cheese. I chopped and minced and measured, and added all of my ingredients to the baking dish.

I put it in the oven and waited. I was actually a little excited about the trip today. The Lima Historical Library of World Literary Works interested me. I wasn't sure if you could check books out but just being around all that amazing work was going to be fun. When the oven timer went off, I pulled the scramble out. I let it cool for a few minutes before I spooned some onto a plate for myself. When I finished I put my plate in the sink, wrapped up what was left and left Gordon a note.

* * *

When I got to school, people were already loading the buses. I wasn't ready to get on so I just stood by my car. I glanced at the rear end and the dent caught my eyes. I replayed the events of a few days ago. I know what I saw. Whether Sam wanted to own up to it or not. When I looked up I spotted Sam and two of his siblings walking toward the buses. They made brief eye contact but that wasn't anything new. The past few days he barely looked at me unless it was from a distance.

"Hey girl." Greg said stepping in front of me.

"Hey." I said.

"How you feelin'?" he said.

"I'm good. Thanks."

"So, um, I know it's like a month or whatever off but do you wanna go with me to prom?" Greg asked hurriedly.

"Prom?" I asked. No was the first thing that popped into my mind but I didn't want to just be rude about it. But thankfully, my mom came through for me. "I can't. I'm going to visit my mom in San Diego."

"Oh. It has to be that weekend?"

"Yeah. She bought the ticket and it's non-refundable."

"Oh. That's cool." Greg said disappointed.

"But I'm sure there are plenty of other girls who wanna go with you." I said sweetly. "You should ask Trina."

"Trina?" he asked looking across the parking lot at her.

"Yeah, secret. I've caught her staring at you a few times." I told him. It wasn't a lie. I had caught her staring at him. Granted it was always after she and Sarah ended their conversation about how hot Sam looked on any particular day.

"Thanks." he said with a brief smile before walking away from me. I followed and got on the bus _opposite_ of Sam Evans.

When we arrived at the library we took a tour of the massive building. It was just as amazing as I thought it was going to be. After the tour, Mr. Murdoch told us that we had two hours to look around and read. Then we'd load the buses, head back to school just in time for lunch. A lot of people groaned at this news but what did they expect; we didn't even leave town.

I found myself in the romance section of the library. I could have found the romance section with my eyes closed. I love reading about how two people find love no matter the odds. As I ran my fingers along the edge of the shelf, reading the titles I felt someone behind me.

"What's in San Diego?" Sam's voice whispered behind me.

"How did you know about that?" I whispered, keeping my back to him.

"You didn't answer my question." he said low, avoiding my question.

"Well, you don't answer any of mine, so..." I said matching in tone as I rolled my eyes. "I mean you don't even say hi to me."

"Hi." he whispered in my hear. Damn him and his sexy voice. I collected myself before I spoke again.

"Are you gonna tell me how you stopped the SUV?" I asked in a hushed tone as I turned to face him.

"Yeah. I had an adrenaline rush." he said matching my tone. "It's very common. You can Google it." I rolled my eyes again.

"San Diegans. That's what's in San Diego." I said a little louder before I turned to walk away. I was fully prepared to make a grand exit but I tripped but I felt a firm hand on my arm before I went down.

"Can you at least watch where you walk?" Sam asked. My body pressed against his. The air between us was thick with sexually charged tension and my annoyance. "Look, I'm sorry I'm being rude all the time. I just think it's the best way."

"Best way to..." I started but I was interrupted by April and Trina coming down the aisle toward us. He looked me in the eye before he hurried off.

"Mercedes, guess what?" April whispered excitedly.

"What?" I asked as we started to walk.

"Greg just asked me to prom!" Trina said excitedly. _Yay!_ I didn like Trina but her getting a date orchestrated by me didn't really interest me but I would pretend like it did. Who had time for attitude? "I thought that he was totally gonna ask you." I avoided eye contact because my face would have betrayed me and she would have known, 'oop, he did ask me.' "It's not gonna be weird, through, right?"

"No. Zero weirdness." I said smiling at her. That was the whole truth. I had no interest in Greg. He was nice and all but not for me. "You guys are great together." I said absently.

"I know, right!?" she said excitedly beside me. We met up with the class and headed back outside to the buses. I walked alone because Trina joined Greg and April joined Jerry and Robbie. I happened to glance over my shoulder to see Sam Evans striding toward me.

"Mercedes, we shouldn't be friends." he said, looking me in the eye. I just looked at him. I was taken aback.

"You really should've figured that out a little earlier." I said irritated. He was silent. "I mean why didn't you just let me get crushed and save yourself all this regret?"

"What, you think I regret saving you?" he asked in a low tone of voice.

"I can see that you do. I just...I don't know why." I said the irritation leaving my voice.

"You don't know anything." he said. Now he sounded annoyed. Before I could respond his siblings approached us.

"Hi. Are you gonna be riding with us?" his sister, Tina asked. I opened my mouth but he spoke.

"No. Our bus is full." he said before he boarded the bus, Tina and his brother Mike close behind.

* * *

When we got back to school it was just in time for lunch. My friends were ahead of me so by the time I got the lunch room they were seated. I put my things down and went to the salad bar. I arranged my salad in my bowl. I thought it looked pretty. I reached to grab a couple of more cucumbers when I knocked an apple off the counter top. A pair of hands caught it in a nest. I followed the hands up to the face and I realized it was Sam.

"Edible art?" he asked looking at my salad. I just looked at him. "Mercedes." he said with an easy smile.

"Thanks." I said taking the apple from him. "You know, your mood swings are kinda giving me whiplash."

"I only said it'd be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't wanna be." he said as he followed me around the salad bar.

"What does that even mean?" I asked looking into his sparkling green eyes. He sighed.

"It means if you were smart, you'd stay away from me."

"Ok, well let's say for argument's sake I'm not smart. Would you tell me the truth?"

"No, probably not." Sam said with no hesitation. I looked away annoyed again. "I'd rather hear your theories."

"I have considered government experiments and suits made of iron." I said jokingly.

"I'm not Captain America or Tony Stark. What if I'm not the hero? What if I'm Loki?" he asked looking me in the eye again.

"You're not." I tried to assure him. "I can see what you're trying to put off, but I know that it's just to keep people away from you. It's a mask." We were silent again. As assertive as I was being, Sam being near made me nervous inside. There was something about him that drove me crazy. I looked away but I still felt him watching me mess with my salad. "Why don't we just hang out?" I asked. "Everybody's going wakeboarding." He smiled. "Come."

"Where?" he asked.

"Westerville."

"I don't know." he said apprehensive. "I just..."

"Is there something wrong with Westerville?" I asked.

"It's just a little...crowded over there." he said with a glance back at the table where my friends sat.

"You got a problem with my friends?" I teased.

"I think it's the other way around." he grinned. "Thank you for the offer but maybe some other time."

"Yeah ok." I said trying to hide my disappointment. He nodded curtly at me before returning to his table. I grabbed my salad and sat down. I could tell that everyone wanted to ask me what we talked about but none of them were brave or nosy enough.

* * *

Saturday morning, I sat the cloth grocery bags full of stuff I was taking to Westerville by the door. I made Gordon breakfast while I waited for my ride. He and I made small talk until I heard the horn sound.

"Be careful out there." Gordon said as he walked me to the door.

"I will. No worries." I said picking up the bags.

"I still think you kids are crazy. It's still cold out." he said opening the door.

"That's why I'll be sitting by the bonfire." I said with a smile. He nodded, waved to Robbie and my friends as I stepped off the porch. I handed April the bags and I climbed in.

When we arrived at Lake Lima I was surprised that it was surrounded by trees. There was already a huge pyre on the beach. April, Trina, Sarah and I unloaded Robbie's SUV as the boys tried to light the fire.

"I'm going out." Trina said happily as she had Sarah zip up her wetsuit.

"Good on ya." I said with a chuckle. In that instance I admired Trina. It was cold as hell out and the water was bound to be freezing. April, Sarah and I bundled up with blankets as the fire finally roared to life.

"Are you going to be staring at Jerry all day?" Sarah asked annoyed.

"What?" I asked. I wasn't staring at Jerry. I was just watching the lake. I was disappointed that I wasn't going to be spending the day with Sam.

"Not you." she said rolling her eyes. "The little love sick puppy beside you." I turned to look at April. Her cheeks were blood red.

"Do you like Jer?" I asked nudging her with my elbow.

"I do. A lot. I want him to ask me to prom but...no luck." April said with a weak smile.

"You should ask him." I said smiling. "You're a strong, independent woman. Ask him."

"I don't know." April said her eyes following Jerry along the edge of the lake.

"You can do it." I said reassuringly. We talked about how she was going to ask Jerry and I helped her mentally prepare.

"Hey Mercy." a familiar voice called out. I looked up to see Maverick and two other guys approaching us.

"Hey Mav. What are you doing here?" I asked as I hugged him.

"The lake's apart of my rez, girl." he said hugging me back.

"Oh right." I giggled. "Oh, April Briggs, Sarah Matthews this is Maverick Blue."

"Hi." they said swooning.

"What's up?" he said with a crooked smile.

"Mercedes, Jones this is Courtland Moore and Garth Hightree."

"Hey guys." I said with a wave.

"Are you wakeboarding?" Maverick asked me.

"No way." I laughed.

"You guys should keep Mercedes company. Her date bailed." Sarah said . I looked at her and she winked.

"What date?" Greg asked stopping in his tracks.

"She asked Sam to come." she said.

"I was trying to be nice." I said quietly. I felt a little panicked now that the whole group was focused on me for two reasons. One, I don't like the attention and two it's embarrassing for people to know that I couldn't even get a guy to come with me to the lake.

"I think it's nice she invited him." April said with a smile. "No one ever does."

"That's because Evans is a freak." Greg said.

"You got that right." Garth said in agreement as Courtland laughed and nodded.

"Do you guys know him?" I asked. I mean I was interested to know if they were just calling him a mean name because they knew him and thought he sucked or if they were just being douches.

"The Schuesters don't come here." Garth deadpanned.

"Oh." I said looking away from his cold stare. Maverick's face was unreadable as I looked for a friendly face. The moment was silent and awkward.

"Hey, you go for a walk?" Maverick asked holding his hand out to me.

"Sure." I said happy to step away from the uneasy scene. I pulled my blanket tighter around me as we walked side by side around the lake in silence.

"What did Garth mean when he said 'the Schuesters don't come here' in that creepy ominous tone?" I asked breaking the silence between us.

"You caught that, huh?" Mav chuckled. "I'm not really supposed to talk about it.

"I can keep a secret." I said as flirtatiously as I could. I figured teenage boys will do anything for a girl who flirts shamelessly. Ok, so yes, it's not the most ethical practice but I wanted answers.

"It's more like an old scary story." Maverick said.

"I still wanna know."

"Alright well, did you know that Daculettes are supposedly descendants of wolves?" he asked.

"Wolves?" I asked quirking my eyebrow.

"Yeah. That's the legend of our tribe."

"As cool as that is, what's that got to do with the Schuesters?"

"Well they supposedly come from like this enemy clan." Maverick informed me. "My great grandfather, Elason Blue, the chief found them hunting on our land; but they claimed to be something different so we made a treaty with them. If they promised to say off of Daculette lands, then we wouldn't expose what they really were to the palefaces." Maverick said.

"But didn't they just move here?" I asked a little confused.

"Or just moved back?" he said with a smirk. Before I could speak again I was distracted by my friends being loud.

"Well, what are they? Really?" I asked getting Maverick's attention back.

"It's just a story, Mercy." he chuckled as we continued to walk. My curiosity was completely peeked. I wanted to know more. It was weird to me that Maverick didn't say that his great grandfather found their _ancestors_ but he found _them._ I wanted to do research but I had no idea where to start.

I enjoyed the rest of the cold day at the lake with my friends. We ate hot dogs, shared gossip and just had all around teenage fun. When I got dropped off later that evening I cooked dinner for Gordon and I before I headed up to my room. I couldn't get that story that Maverick had told me out of my head. I powered on my laptop and decided that I'd try to find out more information on my own.

I opened up Bing and searched Daculette Legends. I scrolled through result after result until I found one that was a link to a bookstore in Toledo/Maumee called Stone & Colt Bookstore. I wrote down the address. I was going to go Monday after school.

* * *

My Sunday was completely uneventful. I found myself with my laptop in my lap searching for other information about the Daculettes. While I was searching my Google Talk plunked.

'_Hey baby.' _ I read in a message from my mom.

_'Hi Mom. How are you? Is everything ok?'_ I wrote back.

_'Everything is wonderful. I was just checking up on you.'_

_ 'I'm good. How's Grant and the band?'_

_ 'Great!'_ she wrote. _'They're gonna be playing for a record exec in a few weeks.'_

_ 'That's great! I'm proud of him.' _ I said back. That was the truth. Grant and the Grand Funk Connection deserved good things after all this time.

_'I'm glad you're doing ok.'_ my mom wrote. She was about to get maudlin and I didn't want that and I didn't want Grant to have to deal with her either.

_'I'm great, Mom. You seem happy too. I can't wait to see you.' _ I said trying to change the subject and keep the conversation upbeat.

_'I can't either. The little apartment we've got in San Diego is so cute. Even though I wanted a house. But Grant promised me that when they get this deal, I can get one!'_

_ 'Ar__e__ you guys moving to San Diego?'_

_ 'Just temporarily. We're thinking of planting roots in __Laguna Beach. Well, the poorer less snobby end, anyway.'_ she wrote back. I laughed out loud. My mom was always the perfect distraction from my life and things that I became obsessed about.

_'Well, I know he'll get that deal. So happy house hunting!' _

_'Thank you baby. I've gotta go. Grant and I are going on a date in a little while.' _ she wrote adding a smiley emoticon on the end.

_'Have fun!'_ I wrote before logging off. I closed my laptop, kissed a sleeping Gordon on the forehead and went to bed.


	5. Immortal Drinks blood Vampire

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's the latest chapter of Gleelight. I'm happy that you guys are enjoying it. I've already started on chapter 6 so to quote Good ol' J.R., business is about to pick up. So, FicRec this to other Samcedians/Twihards. **

**Also, I didn't tag this as a traditional crossover for a couple of reasons. Crossovers don't get looked at or read that often and since I'm changing so much of Twilight to fit what I want or because I don't like her lore, I didn't feel like a loosely based crossover was necessary to tag. I got a PM about that so I just wanted to clear that up.**

**Anyway, Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE! (They really do, reviews are blood and I'm a Schuester...feed me.)**

_**DISCLAIMER ON PREVIOUS CHAPTERS.**_

* * *

I woke up Monday morning a little excited. Not about school but about my trip to the bookstore this afternoon. Since the sun was shining, finally, and the weather said it was going to be warm, I dressed in weather appropriate clothing, made breakfast then headed off to school.

When I arrived at school, everyone was just hanging out in the parking lot. Tossing footballs around, laying on the hoods of cars soaking up the sun. I grabbed my backpack off the passenger seat, got out and waited for Sam and his family to arrive. I wanted to talk to him about the story that Maverick had told me. April, Sarah and Trina joined me by car.

"Mercedes! Guess what?" April asked as she bounced on her toes. "I'm going to the prom with Jerry! I just asked him. I took control."

"I told you that would happen." I said hugging her. She released me and continued to talk rapidly to Sarah about what happened. I brought my gaze back to the other side of the parking lot where the Schuesters' spaces sat empty.

"He's not coming." Trina said her head back, eyes closed. She opened one eye and gave me a knowing look. I looked away as she continued. "Whenever the weather's nice, the Schuesters disappear."

"Do they just ditch?" I questioned.

"No, they have a cabin and apparently it's hard to get to when the weather's bad so Dr. and Mrs. Schuester yank 'em out for skiing and stuff." she answered opening her eyes.

"Oh." I said trying to hide my disappointment.

"Yeah, I tried that out on my parents. Not even close." she said closing her eyes again.

"Mercedes, are you sure you have to go out of town?" April asked sadly.

"Yeah, It's a family thing." I told her. Which wasn't a complete lie. Hopefully by the time I joined my mom in San Diego, Grant would have gotten that deal and it'll be a celebration.

"Okay, we should go shopping in Toldeo/Maumee at The Shops at Fallen Timbers, before all the good dresses get cleaned out." Trina said, her eyes still closed. The other two girls nodded in agreement as the bell rang.

"Toledo/Maumee? You mind if I come?" I asked.

"Yeah, I need your opinion." April said smiling. I smiled back as we headed into the school.

The day was long, slow and boring. The entire day I just watched the clock waiting for that final bell. At lunch time we all decided that since Trina lived closed to the school she would be the one who drove. Everyone would drive home and she could come along after and pick us up.

* * *

When I got home I left Gordon a note saying that I was going to Toldeo/Maumee with friends and I'd be home by 10pm. I was sure as I taped the note to the flat screen TV that he'd be calling me in a few hours. I grabbed my jacket and my purse and sat on the front porch. Trina pulled up in front of my house. I climbed into the back seat with April. They all talked the whole hour and a half ride about how excited they were about the prom. April was going with Jerry, Trina with Greg and Sarah with Robbie. That left me to talk about Grand Funk Connection and they're possible big break. No one wanted to talk about that so I just kept my mouth shut.

When we got the high end mall, I followed them to the store they had been talking about in the car. It sold formal dress and gowns exclusively. The store was on the outside of the mall so it had a large window with a seat that was right beside the section they wanted to look through. I sat down and watched them try on dress after dress after dress after dress after freaking dress.

"I like this one." Trina said, when I looked up from my Kindle she was holding up a pink monstrosity.

"That's cool." April said.

"Yeah but I don't know about the one-shoulder thing." she said slipping the hanger over her head and holding the dress up to her. _She should pass on that one. _

"I like this." April said holding up a blue spaghetti strap dress.

"Yeah, I like the beading and you wouldn't need jewelry." Sarah said. I truthfully wasn't paying any attention to them. I could hear their conversation but I wasn't completely present.

"April, what do you think? Lavender?" Sarah asked. "Is that good? Is that my color?"

"I like it." April said.

"I like it. I liked that dusty rose one too." Trina said. "Ok, I like this one. It makes my boobs look good." While they were modeling their latest choices there was knock on the window, we all looked out a saw a group of college guys.

"Nice." one of them said with a creepy look in his eye.

"Oh God." April said turning away.

"That's uncomfortable." Trina said, covering her chest.

"That's disgusting." I muttered.

"Mercedes, what do you think?" Trina asked me. I looked up. I hadn't been paying attention so I gave my tried and true answer.

"That looks great." Which wasn't a lie. They did look great in their current dresses and yes they could have looked greater in something else but I wouldn't know.

"You said that about, like, the last five dresses, though." Sarah said trying to disgusie her annoyance with me with a chuckle.

"I thought they were all pretty good." I said. Again, not a lie. In the dresses they asked me about. They had looked great.

"You're not really into this, are you?" April asked.

"I actually just really want to go to this bookstore." I told her. Stone and Colt was literally across the big ass parking lot in the next mini mall and the restaurant we had planned to eat at was across and down the street from there. "I'll meet you guys at the restaurant." I said slipping my Kindle back into my large purse.

"Are you sure?" Trina asked.

"Yeah. I'll see you guys soon." I said rising to my feet.

"Ok." the three of them said as I left the store.

* * *

The anticipation threatened to choke me as I got closer to the bookstore. When I finally got there and inside, the place was empty. The only person was the clerk behind the counter. I approached him, asked him about the book and he pointed me in the right direction. I looked at phone and realized I had about 35 more minutes before I had to meet my friends; so I browsed the shop. It was full of books on all types of lore. I found it interesting. I glanced out the shop window and noticed the sun had gone down. I paid for my book and left the store. The street was busy but I realized that if I went through the alley, I could walk behind all the shops and cross the street at the end. I shoved the book in my purse and made my way down the dark alley.

Alright so yes, walking down a dark alley alone was not my brightest idea but I figured it's too late to be thinking that now since you're in the back lot. At least this way a zooming car won't smash into you. So I made a left at the end of the alley started walking toward my destination.

As I walked past an opening of two buildings I saw two man shaped figures approaching me. I sped past the space and walked faster. I glanced behind me and saw they were still coming toward me. When I was in the middle between the space behind and the one in front of me two more guys appeared.

"Saw you in the dress store." one of the guys said.

"Hey, where you running to?" another one asked as I tried to move quickly across the open back lot.

"It's my girl." the guy who knocked on the window said. They surrounded me. I was terrified of what was going to happen next so I tried to run.

"Where you going?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, come get a drink with us." another said.

"You should hang out with us." another one said. "Come on."

"What's the problem?" window guy asked his body pressed against me. I cringed.

"She doesn't like that, man." the one beside him said.

"You're pretty." one said touching my cheek.

"Don't touch me." I said sternly moving my face away.

"Cute." one of them said.

"Really, no. Seriously, you should hang out." one said.

"Don't touch me." I said again when one of them grabbed my arm. I punched him in the groin and he doubled over. Just then a blacked out Audi TT sped around the corner, headlights shining bright. The car stopped just before it hit anyone.

"Get in the car." Sam said in a menacing voice. I didn't ask questions, I just got in.

"That was a very dangerous maneuver." the window guy said drunkenly. I'm not sure what Sam said but they all backed off terrified. Sam came back to the car, his eyes still on them as he put the car in reverse and sped out of the lot.

"I should go back there and rip those guys' heads off." he said his body trembling.

"No, you shouldn't." I said hanging on for dear life as he sped down the street.

"You don't know the vile, repulsive things they were thinking." he said angrily.

"And you do?" I asked my eyes locked on him.

"It's not hard to guess." he said in a calmer tone. I chuckled to myself. I knew there was something else he wanted to say but didn't. "Can you talk about something else?' he asked loudly with a glance at me. "Distract me so I won't turn around."

I said the first thing that popped into my head, "You should put your seatbelt on."

"You should put your seatbelt on." he said with a laugh. I wasn't sure if he was just repeating what I said to be douchey or if it was actual advice. We sped through the street in silence as he weaved through traffic. When he pulled up in front of the restaurant where I was supposed to be meeting my friends, they were coming out as he and I got out of the car.

"Hey you guys, I'm sorry. I just..." I said as they approached us.

"Where were you? We left you messages." April said concerned.

"Yeah, we waited, but we were, like starving so we..." Trina started but trailed off.

"I'm sorry I kept Mercedes from dinner." Sam said as he came up beside me. "We just sort of ran into each other and got talking." The three of them were awestricken. They all tried to speak at once.

"No, we totally understand. I mean, that happens, right?" Trina said giddily.

"Yeah, we were..." April started.

"We were, yeah, we were just leaving. So...Mercedes if you wanna..."

"I think I should make sure Mercedes gets something to eat." Sam said. "If you'd like." The four of us gaped at him. I just nodded like a fool. "I'll drive you home myself."

"That's so thoughtful." April said smiling bright at me.

"It's really thoughtful." Sarah said swooning. April nudged with her elbow.

"Yeah. I should eat something." I said my eyes glued to him.

"Ok, we'll see you tomorrow." Trina said as she, April and Sarah headed toward her car.

"Ok yeah." I said stepping toward Sam.

"Bye." April said with a wink. I turned away from them and walked side by side into the restaurant with Sam. The hostess showed us to our table and minutes later the waitress appeared. We ordered and sat in silence. I was about to speak when the waitress came back. She basically threw my steak salad down in front of me like I was an inmate in jail and then she gently placed Sam's bowl of mushroom ravioli down in front of him.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asked him in a sensual tone. I couldn't help but side eye the hell out of her.

"No. No thank you." Sam said, his eyes on me while I rolled my eyes at the waitress with the stupid ass shaped hairdo.

"Well, let me know." she said as she walked away.

"Hmph." I said rolling my eyes again. I turned back to face my giant bowl of salad. It was covered in strips of thick, juicy steak. I cut my eyes at his bowl. "You're really only eating that?"

"Yes. I'm on a special diet." he chuckled. I nodded. He picked up his fork and put a pasta square in his mouth. I cut a piece of steak and jabbed some greens on to my fork. I was about to put it in my mouth when I remembered that he had just come out of nowhere and saved me – again.

"You gotta give me some answers." I said putting my fork down.

"Yes, no. To get to the other side. 1.77245..." he rattled.

"I don't want to know what the square of pi is." I said annoyed.

"You knew that?"

"Don't seem so surprised." I took a deep breath before I continued. "How did you know where I was?"

"I didn't." Sam said.

"Alright." I said gathering my things. I didn't necessarily want to continue to talk to someone who wasn't going to be straightforward.

"What? Don't leave. I..." he started but didn't finish.

"Did you follow me?" I said setting my bag back down on the floor.

"I...I feel very...protective...of you." he said quietly, his green eyes locked on mine.

"So you followed me." I said trying to hide whatever the emotion was that was trying to burst out.

"I was trying to keep a distance unless you needed my help, and then I heard what those low-lives were thinking." he said angrily, his eyes in a far off place.

"Wait. You said you heard what they were thinking?" I asked quietly. He chuckled softly. "So what, you...read minds?" He looked at me for a long moment before he spoke.

"I can read every mind in this room." he informed me. "Apart from yours." I wasn't sure how to respond so he kept talking. "There's money, sex, money, sex...cat." he said pointing to a weird guy sitting in a booth behind us. "And then you, nothing. It's very frustrating."

"Is there something wrong with me?" I asked confused.

"See, I tell you I can read minds, and you think there's something wrong with you." he chuckled. I didn't say anything but I was both thankful and dismayed by the fact that he couldn't read my mind. Some things a girl likes to keep to herself. "Since you know my secret, I should tell you that Sarah and Trina intend on pumping you for information tomorrow."

"I'm not surprised." I said with a chuckle. Sam gave me a brief smile. I glanced at him and smiled back. I couldn't believe it, a real life mind reader. I'll say it again, I'm thankful and dismayed but the fact that he has this skill is amazing. He sighed heavily bringing me out of my head. His face held a hard expression.

"What is it?"

"I don't have...the strength...to stay away from you anymore." Sam said his green eyes boring into mine.

"Then don't." I said my voice hoarse. We stared at each other for a long moment. The tension mounting between us. He opened his mouth to speak but I guess he was unable to find the words so we just ate in a comfortable, albeit tense, silence.

After he paid, he held the door of the restaurant and the car open for me. It was freezing outside and I had forgotten my gloves at home so I rubbed them together.

"Are you cold?" he asked without taking his eyes off the road.

"Yeah actually." Sam leaned up and turned the heat on. I couldn't help but bask in the warmth. As he sped back toward Lima, I caught myself staring at him. He was so beautiful. We had been silent for most of the ride, which I didn't mind because our conversation at the restaurant was intense. "Ok, I think I'm warm enough now." I said. We both reached for the temperature control and our hands brushed each others. I gasped at how ice cold his was. I looked to him for an explanation but he was focused on the road. "Your hand is so cold." I said when he wouldn't look at me. Silence. I let it go but I knew there was something else. Something more. When he stopped in front of my house, I looked at him. "Thank you. Goodnight."

"You're welcome." he said his voice cool. "Goodnight." I got out and he sped away. I stood at the edge of the driveway for a minute, deep in thought. _What happened tonight? What did any of that mean?_ I thought as I turned and headed toward the house. I unlocked the door and after I hung my coat up, I noticed that Gordon was sitting in the living room, with only one lamp on.

"Dad? You ok?" I asked stepping into the open area.

"A friend of mine...Toby Scott...he uh...he was found...uh dead in his boat." he said quietly, his gaze straight ahead.

"How did he die?" I asked as I knelt beside his recliner.

"Animal attack." he muttered. I remembered hearing something on the radio about a security guard being killed by an animal in a near by city.

"Was it was same one that got that security guard?" I questioned.

"Most likely." he said closing his eyes.

"It's getting closer to town." I murmured. "I'm really sorry, Dad." I said taking his hand.

"I've known him going on thirty years." he said as he quickly wiped a tear from his eye. "Don't worry, we're going to find this thing."

"We?"

"I volunteered to join the search party. Dr. Stevens is going to be taking my patients until it's over." he told me. I nodded my understanding.

"In the meantime, I want you to carry this with you." Gordon said reaching for something on the end table next to him.

"Pepper spray." I said taking the green aerosol can he handing me.

"It'll give your old man some peace of mind." he said putting it in my hand. I nodded again. We didn't say anything for a few minutes. Gordon started to cry. "I saw him." he said. "He was so cold. Like ice." he said tears streaming down his face. "I touched his hand and it felt like a block of ice. He's dead, Mercy. My friend is dead." I wrapped my arm around him and helped him from his chair and up to his room. I grabbed a warm washcloth from the bathroom and wiped his face off. I put him in the bed before I ran to my bedroom.

Gordon's words had been in my mind since he spoke them. _"I touched his hand and it felt like a block of ice. He's dead, Mercy. My friend is dead." _ My mind automatically flickered to Sam. His hand had been ice cold. Then all the other odd things I had noticed about him popped into my head. His eyes changed color, he barely eats anything. I grabbed the book I bought from the Stone and Colt Bookstore and sat down at my desk. I flipped through it and the one thing that kept jumping out at me was was _the Fallen_. I once again took to the internet. My search for the Fallen turned out to be fruitful. I clicked the third link and began to read. The website had all kinds of lore about the Fallen from all over the world.

They drink blood, they're considered undead. They have super speed and super human strength. My mind flashed to the day Robbie's SUV almost hit me. I shook that away and kept reading. As I was skimming cold-skinned jumped out and I thought about tonight in the car. The other word that kept showing up was immortal. I shut my laptop. I needed to think about all that I had taken in with a clear head. I took a quick shower, dressed for bed, turned on my R&B mix and got into bed. I put my head on my pillow and let the sleep wash over me.

_In front of me was a large wooden door. I pushed it open and __inside were grand rooms, high __ceilings__ and luxurious furniture. I looked down at myself and saw that I was wearing a long crimson gown circa 1912. I moved slowly through out the rooms examining what I could. I found the library. I looked at all the books and papers scattered everywhere. The house was huge and it appeared to be empty until I heard __the door to room open and shut. _

_Before I could speak he was standing next to me. He pulled me into his strong arms and whisked me across the room to one of the plush chaise. The room was a blur until he was gently laid me down. No words were spoken as his arctic fingers butterfly winged along my cheek, jaw and neck. I __couldn't__ believe what was happening as I stood omnipresent in this room. The me on the __chaise__ turned my head exposing my neck. Sam put a strong arm around my waist causing me to arch my back as __he__ bit into my exposed neck. I moaned sensuously. Suddenly, Sam lifted his head and looked at me; the omnipresent me and he had blood on his chin. Me the omnipresent blinked and when I opened my eyes the room had changed and I watched as Sam drank my blood in my bedroom. _

I woke up trying to catch my breath. My mind racing. My mom being hippy-dippy sometimes always told me that dreams were the best way to confirm your suspicions about something or someone. Your brain knows the truth and if you gather enough information, your dream with reveal the answer. As I sat up against the headboard I only had three words on my mind.

Immortal.

Drinks blood.

Vampire.


	6. I Know What You Are

**A/N: Hey guys! Thank you for all of the support. It's appreciated. **

**So this is the big reveal chapter! So I hope you enjoy it. Now, because I don't necessarily like the sparkling vampire stuff from Twilight I changed it. The Gleelight vampires are cross between The Vampire Diaries and Transformation (The Hunter Coven Saga). It's all about their faces transforming and not looking like a prism. **

**Anyway, Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE! **

**DISCLAIMER ON PREVIOUS CHAPTERS.**

**THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE. **

* * *

When I got up for school the next morning, I was still thinking about my dream. Vampire seemed farfetched but then again it didn't. I got dressed and headed downstairs. There was no sigh of Gordon just a note stuck to the fridge telling me that he went out with the search party and he'd be home late. I sighed. It was dangerous and I didn't want him to get hurt. I opened the refrigerator door but then quickly shut it. I couldn't eat. My stomach was in knots. I grabbed my backpack and my keys and headed off toward school.

When I got there the parking lot was already bursting with life. I put my baby in park, grabbed my bag off the passenger seat and got out. I scanned the parking lot. He was standing alone by his car. His family nowhere in sight. Sam and I locked eyes. All of the noisy teenagers faded away. All I could hear was everything I wanted and needed to say to him. I strode toward him. He watched me as I passed him and headed toward the thick woods behind where is car was parked.

I didn't look back. I crossed the parking lot, the grassy knoll and entered the woods. They were bluish-gray and the air smelled like new rain. I kept walking and walking; never looking back. I was deep in the woods before I threw my backpack to the ground.

"You're impossibly fast and strong." I said aloud. He didn't say a word and I had my back to him but I knew he was there. "Your skin is pale white and ice-cold. Your eyes change color and sometimes you speak like you're from a different time." I said. I took a deep breath before continuing. "You barely eat or drink anything. You don't go out in the sunlight." I could tell that he was behind me but I wasn't ready to look at him. Not yet. I just kept talking. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen." he answered in a low voice. That wasn't the answer I was expecting.

"How long have you been seventeen?" I asked my voice shaky.

"A while." he answered. I gasped.

"I know what you are." I said trying to steady my voice.

"Say it." Sam said. I thought the word vampire. "Out loud." he said. He must have assumed my thought process. I took a deep breath. "Say it." he said with authority.

"Vampire."

"Are you afraid?" Sam questioned. I thought quickly. I was a lot of things at this point but afraid wasn't one of them. I finally turned to face him. His face wore a weary expression.

"No."

"Then ask me the most basic question." he said looking into my eyes. "What do we eat?" He was trying to scare me again.

"You won't hurt me." I said my voice still a bit shaky. I was done trying to hide the shakiness. He turned away from me. I put my hand on his shoulder. He shrugged away from me. I tried to move in front of him but he kept turning away. "You don't have to hide from me." He gave a nervous chuckle. I waited patiently for him to turn. He moved slowly. Deliberately. When we were finally face to face again I looked at his face. His eyes were glazed over with dark red, rimmed in crimson and he had black veins crawling down his face. I reached up and ran my thumb along the veins.

"This is why when my eyes are black, I miss school. I wouldn't be able to control the need to feed." he said self-consciously. "People would know we're different."

"You're beautiful." I whispered.

"Beautiful? This is the face of a killer, Mercedes." he said through gritted teeth. He turned and walked away from me and down a rocky hill into a clearing. I stumbled a bit but I followed. "I'm a killer."

"I don't believe that." I said as I slipped slightly on a wet rock.

"That's because you believe the lie." he said his back to me. "It's camouflage." Sam turned to look me in the eyes. "I'm the world's most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in, my voice, my face, even my smell." he informed me. "As if I would need any of that." Sam moved quickly and I lost sight of him until he appeared high on a branch. "As if you could outrun me!" he yelled. He jumped and disappeared again, appearing behind me beside a giant tree. "As if you could fight me off." Sam said his voice normal as he ripped an exposed root from the tree and threw it across the clearing. He was annoying me a little bit. I wasn't afraid and nothing he said was going to change that. "I'm designed to kill."

"I don't care." I said firmly.

"I've killed people before."

"It doesn't matter."

He hesitated before he spoke again, "I wanted to kill you." Sam moved closer to me. "I've never wanted a human's blood so much in my life."

"I trust you." I said never taking my eyes away from his.

"Don't." he said as his fingers barely touching my cheek.

"I'm here. I trust you." I said reassuringly. As I reached out to touch him, he zoomed away again. I turned and found him crouched on a tree limb.

"My family, we're different from others of out kind. We only hunt animals. We've learned to control our thirst." he said. He leaned out of the tree toward me. "But it's you, your scent, it's like a drug to me. You're like my own personal brand of heroin." He moved lower in the tree so that we were closer. I needed some more answers. I didn't understand him.

"Why did you hate me so much when we met?" I asked as held on to the low hanging branch beside me.

"I did. Only for making me want you so badly." he explained. "I still don't know if I can control myself."

"I know you can." I said stepping up on a rock at the base of the tree and getting close to him. I needed to be close to him. I was completely drawn in and my heart, mind, body and soul wanted to be closer to him. I leaned forward and he jumped out of the tree and walked into a small enclave. I followed him.

"I can't read your mind. You have to tell me what you're thinking." Sam said putting his body against me and pushing me back against the giant moss covered boulder behind me.

"Now I'm afraid." I said.

"Good." he said moving away and leaning on the large boulder behind him.

"I'm not afraid of you." I said take a step across the tiny space, standing directly in front of him. He chuckled and looked away. I thought long as hard about my next words. Sam was smart and I knew that speaking them would reveal everything. I threw caution to the wind. "I'm only afraid of losing you. I feel like you're gonna disappear." He turned his gaze back to me. Sam looked deep into my eyes. I knew he could hear how fast my heart was beating but I didn't care. I wanted him to say whatever it was behind his eyes.

"You don't know how long I've waited for you." he said softly. I inhaled. He put his hand on my neck over my pulse point before he spoke again. "So the lion fell in love with the lamb."

"What a stupid lamb." I whispered.

"What a sick, masochistic lion." he said with a smirk. I don't know how long we stood there. Silent. Eyes never leaving each other. There was no room for words. Everything that we were feeling filled the woods. Sam grabbed my hand and lead me through the woods. We walked and walked until we came out of the woods into this beautiful plush meadow. I smiled at him. We walked to the middle and sat down.

"This is beautiful." I said looking around. "How'd you know this was here?"

"I know where lots of hidden places are." he said with a chuckle.

"Why'd you bring me here?"

"I want to get to know you, Mercedes. Really know you." he said looking at me. "From the dumbest little quirk to your life long dreams."

"Dumbest little quirk? Let's see, I eat hot dogs from both ends." I said. He laughed out loud. He was so beautiful when he laughed. He was beautiful anyway but when he smiled or laughed it was something I could live on. "Tell me something I don't know about you."

"My name is Sam Evans-Schuester. It's hyphenated but apparently it's too much to say so people just Quinn and I Evans." he informed me. I nodded my head. People sucked but if he didn't care, then neither did I. I laid back and he followed suit. When I turned to look at him, his true face was showing. I looked into his eyes. My feelings for him were no different then they were a moment ago. I hoped he knew that. We lie there, staring at each other. Neither of us speaking. Neither of us touching. Just being together was enough.

When the sky grew darker, we got up and he put me on his back and ran speedily back through the woods. It was terrifying and fun. He gathered my backpack and we headed back toward the now empty McKinley High parking lot. He walked me to my car and opened the door for me. I threw my bag in before I turned to face him.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked.

"I'll drive you to school." Sam said with a crooked smile.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." We shared one last intense look before I got into my car. He shut the door and quickly turned and headed toward his car. I watched him as I started my car.

"I love you." I said as he got into his car, backed out of his spot and zoomed out of parking lot. Being at home was hard. I was alone and I felt like I was missing a piece of myself. At least Gordon wasn't home and I could be awkward about it. I ate dinner, took a shower and checked my email. My mom had sent me pictures of her and Grant doing tourist stuff all over San Diego. I was glad she was happy and in a good place. That meant I didn't have to worry about her. Worrying about Gordon right now was enough. I shut my computer down and laid down. My brain was moving a mile a minute replaying everything that happened today. I closed my eyes and drifted off to a blissful sleep.

* * *

I woke up the next morning a feeling of happiness taking over me. I had dreamt about Sam again. He and I laying in our meadow. Quiet. Still. In love.

"In love." I whispered aloud. Although I had never been in love before I knew that's what this was. I wasn't sure about anything else really in my life but about three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Sam was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him, and I didn't know how dominant that part might be, that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

As I sat up in bed, I head a horn honk outside. I got up and walked across the room and looked out the window. Leaning against his car, was the love of my life. Sam Evans-Schuester. I got dressed for school, grabbed a breakfast burrito I had made last night and headed outside. He smiled at me as I approached him.

"Morning." Sam said opening the car door for me.

"Morning." I said standing in front of him. He pushed his sunglasses back on his head and looked me in the eyes. I didn't look away from his intense stare. I couldn't.

"Let's go." he said breaking his magnetic pull on me. I nodded and got in the car. "You ready for school?"

"It's school." I said. "Do you mind if I eat in your car?"

"Don't make a mess." he teased. I crinkled my nose and he chuckled. I ate in silence. When he pulled into the parking lot he didn't park in his usual spot. We parked in the center near where my friends usually park. He hopped out and opened my door for me. Sam had a crooked smile on his face.

"Wow. You know everybody's staring." I said into his ear. I was at best uncomfortable.

"Not that guy." he said pointing to a nerd. "He just looked." Sam put his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him as we walked through the crowd of gawkers. "I'm breaking all the rules now anyway. Since I'm going to Hell." he said as he cut his eyes at his siblings. He moved his arm to my shoulders and we kept moving through the crowd. I wondered what he meant by breaking all the rules and the going to Hell stuff. I didn't get a chance to ask the questions that were swirling in my head as we kept walking toward school. Once we were inside he pushed his sunglasses back and leaned against the lockers next to mine. "You wanna ditch?" Sam whispered.

"No." I said putting stuff in my locker. "Why?"

"So we can talk."

"What's wrong with after school?"

"What's wrong with right now?" he asked in a sultry tone.

"Sam, after school." I said taking a step toward him. Our bodies were almost touching and the electricity between us was white hot. My breath caught in my throat when he leaned in close.

"Sarah, Trina and April are coming. I'll see you in class." he said softly. I just nodded as he walked away.

"Oh. My. God." April said excitedly. "When did that happen?"

"Yesterday." I shrugged. "We, uh, skipped together."

"What happened the other night?" Trina questioned.

"We just had dinner." I said closing my locker as the three girls crowded around me as we walked to class.

"And I'm sure it wasn't very exciting." Sarah said. "He's not big on talking."

"Oh, I didn't know you knew Sam." I said looking her in the eye.

"I don't." she said folding her arms.

"Then shut up, Sarah." April said linking her arm in mine. "Tell me all about him." she beamed. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't very well say, _'Oh, he's hot and smart and funny and that's right, a vampire.' _That wasn't an option so I just said all the rest of that stuff. You know the same rehearsed answer people give about the person they're seeing. "He's kind, smart, handsome, sweet and we have a lot in common."

"Like what?" Sarah asked rolling her eyes.

"Do you have a problem?" I asked her.

"She's just jealous that Sam never even looked her way." April said. "Ignore her." I glanced at Sarah again. I wasn't sure why Sam didn't give her the time of day but it probably had something to do with the fact that she was a grade A bitch and who in their right mind would want to date someone like that. Sarah and Trina kept walking when April and I stopped outside of Mr. Murdoch's room. "I really am happy for you. Sam's a nice guy. Well, he seems nice. I've never actually talked to him."

"Thanks." I said with a smile. "I'll see you in gym." I said as she ran off toward her class. I entered the room and went straight to my table. When I sat down I noticed that Sam and I were sitting extra close. "What's with the chairs?" I whispered.

"Oh, you know. It'll be easier for you to cheat this way." Sam said with a laugh.

"Ha. Ha." I said placing my book on the table. Class was boring. I assumed it would be until we moved on to a book I hadn't read. Every now and then though, I would catch someone in the room staring at me and Sam. It annoyed me but Sam wore a smug, amused look on his face the entire time. When the bell rang, he stood and waited. "What's the occasion?"

"What?" he asked looking down at me even though I was standing now too.

"Usually you bolt out of this room."

"That was before. This is now." He said putting his arm around me and leading me from the room.

"Is there a reason you're being so cryptic?" I asked.

"Nope. General fun." he said stopping at my locker. "Class was boring."

"I know." I said as I turned the lock.

"Let's ditch."

"No."

"Fine." Sam said. He kissed the top of my head. "I'll see you at lunch." I nodded as he walked away. I walked to gym alone. The class wasn't that bad. I didn't injure myself or other so, achievement. I walked to the lunch room with April. When we arrived Sam was waiting.

"Hello, April." he said with a slight bow of his head. She blushed slightly.

"Hi." she said shyly. "Mercedes..." she said clearing her throat. "are you coming?" I opened my mouth to speak but Sam answered first.

"I was hoping maybe that Mercedes and I could have lunch together today. Just me and her." he said his eyes on me.

"Oh, um of course." April said beaming. "Have a good one." she said winking at me. I turned to him with a frightened look on my face.

"Don't worry. Just me and you." Sam said leading toward the salad bar. He grabbed a bowl, handed it to me and then smiled.

"What?" I asked.

"Make me something pretty." he said with a wide smile.


	7. I'm gonna take you to my place tomorrow

**A/N: Hey guys! Here is the latest chapter of Gleelight. I've already started the next chapter so be on the look out for it in a day or three. Thank you guys for you continuing support. It means so much. It keeps me motivated. I had no idea that people were going to like this story so much but I'm glad that you do. **

**Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: Glee, The Twilight Saga, any of the characters, words, phrases, conversations, places from either or anything else you and find in the world outside of fandom._**

**CHEAP PLUG: Check out my debut novel, _The Hunter Coven Saga:__ Transformation by M. K. Thomas (it can also be found un M. Thomas). _It's available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle.**

**THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTION. I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE. **

* * *

After school I followed Sam though the woods again. He took me to the meadow. Our meadow. He pulled me down next to him on the ground. His was body was cold as ice but there was always this heat between us that neither of us could explain. I would never admit it, but I had waited all day for this. I had wanted to skip with him but Gordon would have been upset and I honestly didn't want to risk being grounded.

"You wanted to talk." I said looking into his eyes. "Talk."

"Do you have any questions for me?" Sam asked as we lay down.

"Of course I do."

"Ask away."

"Does a person have to be dying to become like you?" I asked my head on his chest.

"No, that's just Will. He would never do this to someone who had another option."

"How long have you been like this?"

"Since 1918. Will found Quinn and I in a hospital dying of Spanish influenza. Our mother had died a few months before us. The disease didn't have a tendency to kill people her age but she had always had a weakened immune system." Sam said quietly.

"What does it feel like?"

"The venom..."

"Venom?" I asked.

"All of our bodily fluids are venom. It's like...acid." Sam explained.

"Oh. Continue please." I said snuggling in closer to him.

"The venom was excruciating. Like your entire body being set on fire." he said with a glance at me. I listened intently. "But what Will did was much harder. Not many of us have the restraint to do that."

"But didn't he just have to bite?" I asked.

"Not exactly. When we taste human blood a sort of frenzy begins; and it's almost impossible to stop." Sam informed me.

"But Will did." I said softly.

"Yes. First with me and my sister and then with his wife, Emma."

"Emma. The guidance counselor."

"Yes. Will and Emma decided that my siblings and I needed someone to watch over us. Will is a doctor and Emma is a certified therapist. She was the best fit." Sam said with a chuckle.

"Oh. So, is Will the real reason you don't kill people?" I inquired. It seemed to me that he had a great deal of respect for Will. His voice always held a proud tone whenever he spoke about him.

"No, he's not the only reason." Sam said plainly. "I don't want to be a monster, Mercedes. My family, we think of ourselves as vegetarians, 'cause we only survive on the blood of animals. It's like a human only living on tofu. It keeps you strong but you're never fully satisfied." Sam said. "It wouldn't be like drinking your blood, for instance." he chuckled. I didn't turn that comment over. What was I supposed to say anyway? I just moved one to the next question.

"Was it other vampires that killed Toby?" I asked.

"Yeah. There are others out there, we run into them from time to time." I nodded in understanding of his statement.

"Can the rest of your family read people's minds like you can?"

"No, that's just me. But Tina can see the future."

"I bet she saw me coming." I said with a smile.

"Tina's visions are subjective." he said loudly, his tone making me jump slightly. "I mean, the future can always change." Sam said sitting up.

"Ok. I get what. What about everyone else?" I said sitting up too.

"Finn has super strength."

"Don't you have that?"

"Not like him." Sam said. "He's stronger than the average vampire."

"Oh. What are about Rachel?"

"Beauty. It's not something tangible. It's just she's so beautiful, vampires and people a like get..."

"Wrapped up in it?" I finished for him. He nodded. "Um, what about Mike? He always seems so uncomfortable."

"He's fine but he has mood control." Sam said cutting his eyes at me.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means he can make you feel any way he wants."

"Oh. Hmph."

"Everyone else is not run of the mill but not exceptional." Sam said.

"I think being a vampire is exceptional." I muttered.

"It's not." he whispered.

"Ok, true or false; vampires are like statues?" I said trying to trying to lighten the mood of the conversation.

"False." Sam said smiling at me. "That's stupid." I laughed out loud. "Next."

"Ok, um, vampires don't like garlic."

"False. It's amazing in white sauce."

"True of false; vampires burn in the sun." I said intrigued.

"True. It's not like the sun's out, you stand in and then you explode. It's, for a lack of a better term, a slow burn. I've never seen it happen but Will's told me stories." Sam said looking away from me.

"Is that why you guys ditch when it's nice out?" I asked.

"No. We hunt on those days. It's easier to get around and the animals are out." he said. "Plus we all wear these." he said holding out his hand to me. It was ring with a beautiful deep blue stone and what I assumed was his family's crest.

"What is this?"

"It's a daylight ring. It allows us to walk in the sun, like normal humans."

"Oh. Everyone in your family has a ring like this?" I questioned, my fingers tracing the designs on the ring.

"Rings, bracelets, necklaces. All manner of jewelry." Sam said interlocking his fingers with mine.

"Where did you get them?"

"A woman who claims to be a witch."

"She must have actually been one. You wear this ring." I said looking him in the eye. "It's ok. You can say she was a witch. I know they exist outside of Harry Potter." I chuckled. He smiled at me and kissed the back of my hand.

"I should get you home." he said getting to his feet. He pulled me up and put me on his back. "You ready?" he asked. I nodded my head and suddenly everything was speeding past me.

* * *

The week sped by. Sam and I spent everyday in the meadow together after school. Talking. Getting to know each other. I told him about my love of Whitney Houston and singing and how I'm have a tendency to be clumsy. He asked me questions about my childhood and about how I liked L.A., he asked me questions about my mom and Grant and Gordon. We left no stone unturned.

We had decided that on Friday we were going to hang out at my house. At least outside. My car needed to be washed and it was going to be a cloudy rainless day. He had agreed and brought me home. Friday morning before he showed up to take me to school, I grabbed all the car washing tools from the closet under the stairs and put them on the front porch.

The school was long and tedious. We had a couple of tests coming up and a physical fitness exam. _Oh yay._ Sam and I sat alone at lunch time. We talked about books and music and movies. He was so funny and special. I found myself falling for him more and more with each passing moment. After lunch we parted ways and I was accosted by Greg.

"Hey." he said catching up to me in the hallway.

"Hi."

"Here." he said handing me a piece of paper. I smiled at him and read it.

**Monte Carlo Prom**

**Games, dancing and "drinks"**

**Come one, come all!**

"Monte Carlo?" I asked quirking my eyebrow.

"It was Jerry and prom committee's idea." Greg said. "Anyway, uh, if your plans fall through, you gonna go?"

"I don't know." I shrugged handing him the flyer back.

"It won't be the same without ya." he said with a boyish grin.

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure my plans will be in tact but thanks for thinking of me." I smiled back. He just nodded and walked away. I sighed and opened my locker. I didn't like disappointing people but I really didn't want to go to the prom. I love dancing. I love close dancing but I'm not at all that interested in people watching me do either. Yes, I know they'll be with their dates but my brain won't realize it. It's just better if I go to San Diego.

When the final bell rang, I exited the building and met Sam by his car in the middle of the parking lot.

"You ready?" he asked opening the car door for me. I smiled as got inside. As he passed by the windshield I noticed his sister Rachel, giving one or both of us the death stare.

"Is Rachel ok?" I asked as he started the car.

"She had a tendency to be...over-dramatic." he said as he backed out of the space and sped from the lot.

* * *

Sam sat on the hood of his car and watched me wash my baby. Every now and then when I would glance at him, I could tell he was deep in thought. I bent down to wash the bottom of the door and when I stood back up, he was standing on the roof of my car. He jumped down to the trunk and then the ground.

"Can you at least act human? I have neighbors." I said teasingly. He didn't turn it over but he looked like he had something on his mind. "What?"

"I'm gonna take you to my place tomorrow." he blurted out. I looked at him wide eyed. He reached over and pulled my wheel well and fixed the dent.

"Thanks." I said with a smile that quickly faded when what he said clicked in my head. "Wait, you mean with your family?" I asked.

"Yeah." he said nonchalantly, like it was no big deal.

"What if they don't like me?" I questioned. That was important to me. They're his family. If they hated me then what would that mean for us.

"So, you're worried not because you'll be in a house full of vampires, but because you think they won't approve of you?" he asked with a chuckle.

"I'm glad I amuse you." I said with a grin. Suddenly, he sniffed and looked down the street. "What is it?"

"Complication." he answered. He sighed heavily, "I'll pick you up tomorrow." I nodded and watched him pull away. He passed Travis and Maverick. It was a weird moment but I brush it aside and put the car washing stuff back on the porch.

"Hey, come to visit your car?" I asked meeting them in the driveway.

"Yeah. Looks good. Got that dent out." Maverick said as he pushed his dad toward me.

"Yeah." I said smiling at the thought of Sam just pulling the dent out.

"Actually, we came to visit your flat-screen." Travis said "First Reds game of the season." he said as Mav examined the car. "Plus Maverick here keeps bugging me about seeing you again."

"Great, Dad. Thanks." he said trying to hid his blush. I smiled sweetly.

"Just keeping it real, son." Travis said grinning up at his son." I turned my head to keep from laughing.

"Ice Blues." Gordon said as he got out of his car and handed Travis two six packs of beer.

"Well done, Doc." Travis said. "Winston Littleleaf's homemade fish fry." he said handing a paper brown bag to Maverick.

"Good man." Gordon said with a large smile.

"Any luck with that Toby case?" Travis asked my dad as he pushed him toward the front of the house. The Native American's eyes were locked on me, making me feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, the police don't think it was an animal that killed him." Gordon informed him.

"Never thought it was." Travis said matter of factly.

"You should spread the word out at the rez, huh? Keep the kids out of the woods."

"Will do." Travis said as my dad and Maverick lifted his chair. "Don't want no one else getting hurt, do we?" he said his eyes locked on mine. I felt like he knew something. Like he knew the secret I was keeping; about Sam. But was that so far out of the realm of possibility? Maverick told me the story of the Daculette people. Maybe he did know something. Well if he did, I wasn't going to be the one to bring it up.

I took the bag of fish fry from Maverick and headed straight to the kitchen. There were only a few things in life I didn't care about; and baseball topped that short list. I started making dinner while the three of them yelled at the TV all after noon. I put my earbuds in and tried to lose myself in the angelic voice of Whitney but not even _The Voice_ couldn't take my mind off of tomorrow.

I was going to meet the rest of the Schuesters. The idea was consuming and it made me nervous. As I sat at the table and peeled and sliced potatoes, I played out different scenarios in my head about how tomorrow was going to go. They all ended up with one or all of them hating me. I rinsed and dried the potato slices, put them in the skillet, shook some chopped onions and seasoning salt on them. The fish and the fried potatoes were done at about the same time as the game. I fixed everyone a plate and we sat down to dinner. I was quiet as they all chattered about the ins and outs of the game.

Gordon said he'd clear the dishes after he helped Maverick get Travis out side. I said goodnight to our guests and headed up to my room. I opened my laptop and was thankful my mom was on GoogleTalk.

"_Hi mom." _I typed.

_ "Hey baby." _she answered.

_"How are you doing?"_

_ "Great. Grant and the band are putting on great shows. How are you?"_ she asked.

_"Nervous."_ I said.

_ "Why? What's going on?"_

_"When you meet the family of good friend, what should you wear? What kind of impression should you want to make?" _ I asked as generally as I could. I wasn't exactly ready to tell my mom that I was in love with Sam; especially since she didn't even know he existed yet.

_"Nothing to flashy but don't go out of your comfort zone. And as far as impressions go, I think I've got the best kid around so just be yourself. They'll love you."_ she answered honestly. I loved my mom. She always knew exactly what to say.

_"Thanks Mom. That helped."_

_ "You're welcome, baby girl. Oh and by the way, because it's getting late where you are __you __can tell me all about this boy later."_ my eyes grew as big as saucers. I forgot my mom could read me like a book, even via the internet.

_"Right. Well, night Mom. Tell Grant I love him."_

_ "I will. Sleep tight."_ she typed before ending the chat. I picked out my clothes and took a hot shower before climbing into bed. I had missed Sam from the moment he left this afternoon but I was starting to feel better as I drifted off to sleep because I knew he would see me in my dream land.

* * *

**A/N2: FIC REC: Check out _The Bridge by Princess976_. It's a TVD/Transformation Xover and it's exclusive to AO3. Kudos, comments, bookmarks and subscriptions are always appreciated. _  
_**


	8. You better hold on tight spider monkey

**A/N: Hey guys! So I had this written for a couple of days but this bloody website wouldn't let me upload so I'm posting it now. This chapter is all about The-Mercedes-Meet-and-Greet with Sam's family and Sam and Mercedes getting to know each other better. **

**Next chapter, Mercedes learns a little more about Sam's family and we meet up with The Blues.**

**Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: Glee, Twilight, the characters or places from either, anything found in the world outside of Fandom, any of the names listed below or Vision of Love by Mariah Carey._**

**THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.**

* * *

The next morning, bright and early I got up and pulled on royal purple sheath dress and a black blazer. I pulled on my purple and black platform wedges and did my hair in big curls. I went to the kitchen grabbed a bottle of juice and a cherry Toaster Strudel. I saw the note from Gordon saying he was gone for the day. I sighed with relieve. I had no desire to explain why I was so dressed up or to reveal the fact that I have a smart, funny, caring, kind, sexy, gorgeous boyfriend. About thirty minutes later there was a knock on the door. I put my juice bottle in the recycling and checked my make-up and face for crumbs in the mirror by the door.

"Hey." I said opening the door. Sam stood there in dark wash jeans, a plaid button up cover with a black sweater.

"You ready?" he asked holding his hand out to me. I sighed, put my coat on, grabbed my house key, took his hand as he lead me to his car. Sam opened the door for me and allowed me to get in. We rode for a while in relative silence.

"Do you know Maverick Blue?" I asked breaking the silence.

"No." he answered.

"What about Travis Blue?"

"Not personally."

"He's one of the Daculette elders." I said as I twirled my thumbs.

"I know." he said plainly.

"It just looked like you guys knew each other yesterday when you were leaving." I commented.

"We know _of _each other." Sam said glancing at me. "Nothing more." I nodded. I felt like there was more to it than that but as he turned off the main road onto a long dirt one, Travis and Maverick left my mind. The only thing that was rattling around in there now were my nerves. Sam parked the car in front of this beautiful house. Almost every wall that I could see was a floor to ceiling window. He opened my car door and led me up the front stair and into the house.

"This is incredible." I said as he removed my coat. "It's so light and open, you know?" I said my eyes taking in all the beautiful furniture and art.

"What did you expect, coffins and dungeons and moats?" he teased as he removed his coat.

"No, not the moats." I joked. He chuckled as he led me to the stairs. I gazed out the large window into the front yard. When I turned to face him he looked me in the eyes.

"This is the one place we don't have to hide." I nodded in understanding. As we continued to walk, we heard operatic music and the smell of Italian food filling the house. "I told them not to do this."

"Mercedes, we're making Italian for you. Sam said it was your favorite." the smiling woman said with a smile.

"Mercedes, this is Emma. My mother for all intents and purposes." he said introducing us.

"Grazie per avermi." I said with a smile.

"Siete i benvenuti." Emma said with a warm smile.

"You've given us a reason to actually use the kitchen." Will said turning from the stove.

"I hope you hungry." Emma said.

"Yeah, absolutely." I replied.

"She already ate." Sam said shaking his head. Suddenly, there was glass breaking and I realized that Rachel had broken the salad bowl.

"Perfect." she said glaring at me.

"He's wrong. I didn't already eat. He just didn't want you guys making a big deal about me because I don't really like attention." I said hurriedly. "I didn't say anything else because I didn't want you guys to feel bad if I started...acting weird."

"Of course." Emma said. "That's very considerate of you."

"Just ignore, Rachel." Sam said into my ear. "I do."

"Yeah. Let's just keep pretending like this isn't dangerous for all of us." Rachel said irritation marring her voice.

"I would never tell anybody anything." I said reassuringly.

"She knows that." Will said looking at his daughter. Finn stood with his arm on Rachel's shoulder. He seemed amused by all of this.

"Yeah, well, the problem is, you two have gone public now, so..."

"Finn." Emma warned. He just shrugged.

"No, she should know." Rachel said. "Then entire family will be implicated if this ends badly." she said stepping closer to me and Sam.

"Badly as in...I would become the meal." I said translating. They all laughed. Even Rachel smirked at me.

"Hi Mercedes." Tina said appearing suddenly. Mike close behind her. She skipped across the kitchen and hugged me. "I'm Tina."

"Hi." I said returning the sudden sign of affection.

"Oh, you do smell good." she said stepping away.

"Tina, what are you..." Sam started shaking his head.

"It's ok. Mercedes and I are gonna be great friends." Tina said smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile back. Her energy was contagious; but the air in the room suddenly got thick.

"Sorry." Will said clearing his throat. "Mike's our newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mike said with a slight bow of the head. Although Sam told me it was unnecessary for vampires to breathe it seemed like Mike was holding his breath around me.

"It's ok Mike. You won't hurt her." Tina assured him.

"Alright, I'm gonna take you on a tour of the rest of the house." Sam said grabbing my hand. I knew that if he could he would be blushing.

"Ok." I said.

"Well, I'll see you soon." Tina called. I waved to her.

"Dinner will be ready soon." Emma said. He nodded before he pulled me down the hallway.

"They were nice. I think they liked me." I said happily. "Well, except for Rachel."

"Rachel doesn't really like anybody except for Finn." Sam joked. I chuckled as we climbed another set of stairs. I stopped about mid way up in front of this huge wooden frame.

"Graduation caps?" I asked pointing at it.

"Yeah. It's a private joke." he said. "We matriculate a lot."

"That's kind of miserable." I laughed. "I mean, repeating high school over and over again."

"True, but the younger we start out in a new place, the longer we can stay there." he explained. "Come on." he said passing me on the way up the stairs.

"Hi." a slender boy said blocking our way.

"Hi." I said.

"I'm Kurt Hummel but for school purposes, Schuester."

"Oh. I'm..."

"Mercedes Jones, fashion diva." Kurt said. "I know."

"I'm not a fashion diva."

"Oh the contrary. You are. Stick with me and I'll hone you into a fashion icon." Kurt said smiling.

"Thanks Kurt. Are you done?" Sam asked.

"Are you going to introduce her to the rest of the family?"

"I hadn't planned on." Sam muttered. I squeezed his hand.

"Well, come on." Kurt said linking his arm through mine and turning me the other way. Sam huffed and followed us. Kurt stopped at the first door we came too. "Blaine, come here." I peaked into the room and saw a dreamy boy in a sweater and bowtie coming toward us. He smiled brightly as he pulled the door open wide.

"You're Mercedes." he said hugging me. "Tina was right; you are beautiful."

"Thank you." I said. I could feel the heat rising in my face. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Blaine said.

"Ok, that's enough." Kurt said pulling me down the hallway. He knocked on the next door.

"What do you want, Kurt?" the beautiful dark hair girl asked as she wrenched the door open.

"Mercedes is here today, remember?" Kurt said his eyes flashing in my direction.

"So?" she said.

"This is Santana. Lopez but for..." Kurt began.

"For school purposes it's Schuester." I finished. Kurt smiled and nodded.

"I'm Merc..."

"I don't care. I don't agree with Rachel about most things on principal but I agree with her about this." Santana said staring me down.

"Right." I said.

"Stop." Kurt whispered harshly. "Britt, Mercedes is here." he said looking past Santana, who was still glaring at me by the way, into the room.

"OH!" a voice said. I heard feet and suddenly I was pulled into a life-threatening hug. "Thank you."

"For what?" I said hoarsely.

"Helping Sammy. He's been like a unicorn without his magical horn." she said pulling away from me.

"Oh." I said glancing at Kurt. He just shrugged and rolled his eyes. "You're welcome." Brittany smiled at me brightly.

"Yeah, bye." Santana said pulling Brittany back into the room and shutting the door.

"Rude." I mumbled.

"She probably heard that." Sam said in my ear. I gave him a one shoulder shrug and followed Kurt down the hallway. We came to a large doorway. We stepped inside and I realized this was the game room. There was every gaming platform that a person could wish for and every game ever. It was awesome.

"Guys, Mercedes is here." Kurt said, his arm around my shoulders. Three of the four people in the room turned to face me. "Mercedes, this is Lauren Zizes." he said introducing me the girl standing close to me.

"Sup?" she said said. Lauren was a big girl and I could tell she was as comfortable with herself as I was; probably more so.

"Hey." I said.

"That's my man, Puckerman." Lauren said pointing to the mohawked boy.

"I prefer Puck." he said walking over to us. He held his fist out to me. I bumped it and he grinned.

"That's Artie Abrams." Kurt said pointing to the other boy in the room. I gasped when he rose from his chair and came over to us.

"What up, girl?" he said. I just looked at him with wide eyes.

"Uh..."

"Oh, we decided that there ain't no way in hell with all of us being adopted that Will and Emma wouldn't adopt a handicapped kid." Artie explained. "I drew the short straw this time so I gotta put my ass in that chair everyday."

"Oh." I said. "That makes sense."

"Yeah, plus don't you think it's be kinda douchy for them to adopt all these beautiful ass kids and not one of them be handicapped?" Artie asked. Puck and Lauren laughed.

"But they didn't. You can walk." I said causing Puck, Lauren, Kurt and Sam to laugh.

"Girl, them people at school don't know that." Artie said and we all laughed. When the laughter subsided, Lauren looked over her shoulder.

"Oh yeah, the bitch in the corner is Quinn." she said rolling her eyes.

"Right, Quinn this is Mercedes." Kurt said happily.

"Hello." she said her green eyes giving me the once over. _What the hell was wrong with the girls in this family?_

"Hi." I said politely. Sam grabbed my hand and squeezed it slightly. He was staring directly at Quinn.

"Let's go." he said his green eyes still on her. I nodded and he pulled me from the room.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Fine, just come on. I wanna show you..." Sam said glimpsing at me. "Come on." I kept my hand in his as we walked back down the long corridor. We stopped at the room at the end of the hallway with the open door. "This is my room." he said allowing me to enter. It was awesome. One entire wall was floor to ceiling windows, his room had it's own set double doors which led out to a huge branch. Another wall had a monstrous bookcase. It was cover with cassettes, vinyls, CDs, books and a cool stereo but the coolest thing in the room was the glass display cases by the double doors. On the wall by the entrance door was a flat-screen TV and a desk with more amazing books and collectibles. I looked around the room and it was distinctly Sam. As I spun around the room I did notice something.

"No bed?" I asked looking at him pointing at the fancy ass futon by the wall of windows.

"No, uh, I don't sleep." he said.

"Ever."

"No, not at all. It more like a state of rest." I nodded and glanced at his bookcase. I was extremely interested in what kind of things he read and listened to.

My eyes started at the shelf I could see and began to read the names on his CDs. B_ille Holiday, Waylan Jennings Areosmith, Stephen Sondheim, Nirvana, Tina Turner, Green Day, Louis Armstrong, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jason Aldean, Etta James, Smoky Robinson and the Mircales, George Strait, Rolling Stones, T. I., Poison, 50 Cent_. "Boy, you have so much music." I said glancing at him. I brought my eyes back to the bookcase and kept reading. _Beyoncé. The Beatles, The Black Keys, Hank Williams, senior and junior, 98 Degrees, Warrent, Christina Aguilera, Bach, Adele, Pearl Jam, The Temptations, Maroon 5, R. Kelly, Dionne Warwick, Foo Fighters, Diana Ross and the SURPREMES, Johnny Cash and Grand Funk Connection_. "What the hell is this?" I asked taking the case off the shelf.

"It's Grant's band." he answered honestly.

"I see that, but why do you have it?"

"I was curious after you told me so I order it from their website." Sam said with a smile. "They're really good. The don't charge enough for these." he said taking the case from me and putting it back on the shelf. I nodded. I couldn't believe he had bought a GFC CD. It made me happy that he even cared enough to look them up and that he even remembered the name of the band.

"What are you listening to?" I asked pressing play on the stereo. Suddenly beautiful, gentle classical music began to play.

"It's _Debussy_." he said embarrassed. "I don't know if...

"Yeah." I nodded. "_Claire De Lune_ is great." I said with a smile. He smiled back relief written on his face. "I know some stuff." I teased with a wink. I turned my attention to the glass display cases. "What are these?"

"My most prized possessions." he said coming and standing beside me. "The original first editions of all the _Marvel_ hero comic books."

"That's awesome." I said looking at them. _Captain American_ sat right in the front. "Is he your favorite?" Sam just turned and pointed back toward the other door. On the floor by the desk was a replica _Captain America_ shield. "You just keep getting better and better." I said causing him to chuckle.

I was swaying a little to the music that was still playing when Sam stepped close to me and grabbed my hand. I had a feeling where this was going. He pulled me close with his other hand and I feel that fire between us again as he green eyes stared into mine. Then he spun me around and I kinda stepped on my own foot. When I was facing him again, I slightly shook my head no.

"What?" he asked.

"I can't dance." I said. "No, I can dance. I just can't do it with out hurting myself or others."

"Hmm." he said with a sharp inhale. "Well, I could always make you."

"I'm not scared of you." I said in amusement. He shrugged slightly and chuckled.

"Well, you really shouldn't have said that." he said sexily before he quickly grabbed me by my arm, threw me on his back and jumped out of his open double doors and on to the tree that was yards away. I screamed the entire way. "You better hold on tight, spider monkey." he said causing me to giggle like a school girl as he speedily climbed the tree. "Do you trust me?" he asked stopping eighty feet off the ground.

"In theory." I said my arms and legs wrapped tightly around him.

"Then close your eyes." he said before he jumped from the tree into another. He climbed this one higher and higher until we reached the crown of the tree. I leaned against the trunk and looked out in wonderment. I couldn't believe I, Mercedes Jones was at the top of a tree. "What?"

"This isn't real." I chuckled. "This kind of stuff just doesn't exist."

"It does in my world." he said. I turned and smiled at him. He brushed my hair out of my face and put his forehead against mine. "You're in my world now." he whispered. I couldn't breath but I didn't want to. It might push this moment away. I wanted it to last forever.

I have no idea how long we were in that tree before we headed back toward the house but being on Sam's back, sailing through the trees was a phenomenal experience. It was unlike anything I'd ever done before. I loved being around him. He made my life seem less dull. He made it seem bright and colorful. When we got back to the house, Emma informed us that dinner would be ready soon and that we had about thirty more minutes to hang out.

"Come on. I wanna show you something." he said grabbing my hand and led me down two flights of stairs. The lowest level of the house was cool. It was all floor to ceiling windows, there was a tree actually inside the house that snaked it's way up into the kitchen were I saw Tina and Mike appear. The entire house was surrounded by trees and from down here you could tell. The furniture in the room was white block chairs and couches, hardwood floors, flowers in beautiful crystal vases and in the center of the room was a shiny black grand piano. He sat me in one of the chairs closest to it and he took a seat in front of the piano. He opened the leather bound journal that was sitting there, glanced over his shoulder at me and began to play.

I recognized the song. It was _Mariah Carey's Vision of Love. _I hummed along with his playing until I just couldn't take it anymore. I rose from my chair and sat beside him on the bench and watched his long fingers touch the black and white keys. He turned to me, gazed deeply into my eyes taking my breath away and began to sing,

** "You treated me kind **

**Sweet destiny **

**And I'll be eternally grateful**

**Holding you so close to me**

**Prayed through the nights**

**So faithfully**

**Knowing the one that I needed**

**would find me eventually**

**I had a vision of love **

**and it was all that you've given to me."**

Before he could continue. I took over for him and sang to the end,

"**I had a vision of love**

**and it was all that you**

**turned out to be."**

Sam played the last few chords of the song just as Emma called downstairs to tell us dinner was ready.


	9. I was with my boyfriend

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well. So, here is the 9th chapter of Gleelight. I hope you all enjoy it. **

**In the next chapter is an important first for out star-crossed couple and a run in with vampires that have been killing people around town like Gordon's friend. **

**Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE!**

**DISCLAIMER ON PREVIOUS CHAPTERS.**

**THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.**

* * *

Sam and I climbed the stairs and joined his family in the large wood paneled dinner room. It was the only room in the whole house that didn't have large windows. There were all kinds of amazing paintings covering the walls and soft music playing. Emma fixed everyone a plate, mine had the most because I need food to live.

"So Mercedes, how is Gordon?" Emma asked politely.

"He's great." I said smiling. She smiled brightly back at me. Her red hair framed her face and showed off her beautiful features.

"Sam tells me that your step-father is in a band." Will said.

"Yeah. It's called Grand Funk Connection." I said. "They're not really famous but they're good." Will nodded as he put some food in his mouth. "Um, I hope that I'm not overstepping, but would it be wrong to ask how you guys became vampire?" I asked. The room grew quiet and the Schuesters just glanced at each other until Will cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I was just...curious."

"It's ok." Will smiled. "It's still odd that you're not afraid of us."

"Oh." I said looking down at my plate hiding my reddening cheeks. The room was silent again.

"I don't know who changed me." Tina spoke up. She gave me a gentle smile before continuing. "See, I've always had my visions but in 1899, people didn't necessarily know that's what they were and I was sent to the asylum. At the time, I didn't remember much about my experience there, day to day, but now as a vampire, I remember everything but the faceless person that changed me remains a mystery."

"Have you tried to find out who it was?" I asked.

"No. It doesn't matter in the long run. Plus, I look at it as sort of a blessing. I got Mike and my family out of it." Tina said gazing into Mike's eyes. I smiled at them. They were so in love. You could feel it in the room.

"I um," Emma began. "Will saved me." she said her eyes welling with tears. "I was married once before. As a human. My husband and I had tried several times to get pregnant. Each time had been successful but all ended in horror. I had two miscarriages and a stillborn." she explained as Will wiped away a tear that had fallen. "But we were determine." Emma said with a weak smile. "I became pregnant once again. We were very happy and excited but it was the summer of 1914 and the first world war had begun. I got word that my husband had died and a few weeks later, I miscarried. I was heartbroken on all sides, I wanted to end it all." she said crying now. "So, that's what I set out to do. I walked to the cliffs near my home and...jumped." I gasped, my eyes wide. "But then, when I woke up, this beautiful face was above me. He was there everyday when I woke up." Emma caressed Will's face. "One day, when the doctors determined I wasn't going to make it, he asked me if I wished to live and stay with him forever in his care. I told him I wanted children but there was something wrong with me."

"I assured her that she would have children if she would only join me." Will said nuzzling into her hand.

"I believed him and here we are." she told me with a warm smile.

"I'm very sorry all of that happened to you." I said, wiping away my own tears.

"Oh sweetie, it's in the past. I'm happy now and I have all my beautiful children." Emma stated as she gazed around the table at all of her children.

"Puck and I were vampires when we found the Schuesters." Lauren chimed in.

"Yeah, some crazy guy changed me and Zizes as me to change her." Puck explained. "It was hard for me. I had never even bit anyone before."

"Yeah but here I am baby." she said kissing his lips gently.

"I am a bad ass." he whispered. She smiled at him and kissed him again. "But yeah, we were tearing up the midwest when Will found us and told us there was a better way." Will smiled at his mention.

"It's so amazing. You guys are such a family to not be blood relatives." I said. "Some people hate the people they're actually related to." They all laughed.

"Vampires feel things differently." Sam explained. "More intense."

"Oh, so if you like someone or love someone it's a thousand times greater than anything I can feel?" I asked, looking into his green eyes.

"Something like that." he grinned.

"Good to know." I said, slightly blushing. No one else chose to share how they became vampires but I wasn't trying to push them. I was just interested. They were interesting. I enjoyed getting to know Sam's family. It made me feel closer to him and in my opinion, that couldn't be bad.

After dinner, I said my goodbyes and Sam drove me home. He opened my door and walked me to the front door.

"I had fun today." I said smiling up at him.

"I'm glad." he smiled back.

"I hope we do it again soon."

"We'll see."

"Thank you for inviting me." I whispered.

"You're welcome." he whispered back, his eyes locked on mine. I held my breath as he leaned in, closer and closer to my face. His cold lips pressed against my forehead for a long moment before he pulled away. I exhaled. "Goodnight." he said as I unlocked the door.

"Goodnight." I said as I stepped inside. Sam gave me a crooked smile that melted my insides before he turned and headed back to his car. I closed the front door and headed up to my bedroom.

"Did you have a good time?" Gordon's voice said from his bedroom. I screamed at the sound breaking into the silence of the house.

"What?"

"Did you have a good time?" he asked again. "Dr. Schuester told me that you were going over there for a visit."

"Oh, yeah it was fun." I said as he came into the hallway.

"Good. I got your note."

"I wanted you know where I went."

"I know. I'm not accusing you of anything." he said.

"It doesn't feel that way." I said walking toward my room.

"I promise I'm not." Gordon replied. "I'm just glad you had fun and you're making friends." he said with a gentle smile. I smiled back.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"It's alright. Go to bed. I'll see ya tomorrow." he said before returning to his room and shutting the door.

"Shit." I muttered. I hadn't meant to make him feel bad. I just...opened my mouth before I knew everything. I'll make him an awesome breakfast before church. I entered my room and turned on my love songs. I got undressed and put on my pajamas before laying down. The smooth vocals filled the room and swayed me to sleep.

* * *

I got up the next morning feeling awesome. That probably had a lot to do with the sin worthy dream I had about Sam. Goosebumps covered my skin as my thoughts drifted back to my dream world. My toes touched the cold tile of the kitchen and I closed my eyes. Sam. I couldn't stop thinking about him. That dream had rocked me in more ways than one. As I moved around the kitchen I could hear his sexy voice in I head.

_"__Your body is so beautiful." he said, his fingertips moving ever so slowly down __my __unclothed body. __I__ inhaled sharply __as__ his index finger traced __my__ nipple. The icy touch of his skin sent tingles all over __my__ body, straight to __my__ core. __I__ watched him as his ice-cold fingers traveled down __my__ body finding __my__ warm center. __Sam didn't hesitate. He didn't slow down. He touched me the way I wanted to be touched without me having to ask. I hissed as his fingers dipped into my wet folds. I rode his ha__n__d until I found __my__ ecstasy. _

"That smells good." Gordon said breaking me from the memory of my dream.

"Oh. Thanks." I blushed. It was more than embarrassing to be remembering a sex dream with your parent in the same room.

"You not coming to church today?" he asked looking at me in my Barbie pjs.

"No. I think I'm gonna do some job hunting." I said serving him his breakfast. "I don't want to have to rely on you for money."

"Didn't you mother send you with some money?" he questioned, squeezing syrup onto his pancakes.

"Yeah but I have a car now. Gas isn't cheap."

"I heard that the Daniels are hiring at their music store."

"Where is it?" I asked, grabbing the magnetic notepad from the refrigerator door.

"2402 Winchester Avenue." Gordon informed me. "They're open on Sundays because Mr. Daniels doesn't do church." he said rolling his eyes. I'm sure there was some small town gossip in there somewhere but I didn't care enough to dig it out. "I'm going out to the rez after church today; you coming?"

"Yeah. I haven't seem Mav in a little while." I said smiling.

"Alright, we'll go to Breadstix after we leave there." Gordon said returning my smile. "Do you want to meet me on the rez or do you want me to pick you up?"

"I'm out of the way. I probably won't be home anyway. I'll meet you there." I said taking the piece of paper with the address on it with me to my room. By the time I showered, dressed and came back downstairs, Gordon was gone. I walked carefully to my car, there were still remnants of ice all over the place. I popped a cassette in the deck and took off toward the music store.

The Daniels Music Emporium was huge. It was like a warehouse full of CDs, vinyls, cassettes, 8-tracks and any other manner of listening to music there was. It smelled like winter and vintage.

"May I help you?" a tall balding man asked me as he carried a box to the floor. "Drake is in the hip-hop section, One Direction is in the pop section and Hot Chelle Rae is in the pop-rock section, unless you like the band without Ian, not that anyone does, but that's located in the pop section. In my opinion they kind of lost their edge." he said as he cut open the box and started stocking the shelves.

"Uh, no. I'm here about the job." I said and _what was __it__ about the adults in this town and Drake?_

"Oh great. Well, I'm Bret Daniels; call me Bret. Follow me to the back." he said shaking my hand. "Do you go to school with Jerry?" he asked as we entered into the office.

"Yeah. I'm Mercedes Jones." I said sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the desk.

"Oh, right. Gordy's kid." he said smiling. "I'm Jer's dad. He talks about you a lot. I'm surprised you haven't stopped by sooner. All his friends do." I smiled uneasily. What the hell was Jerry telling his parents? He and I were friends but not like best friends. Awesome. I hoped I wasn't required to know things about him, because I knew two things about Jerry Daniels. He likes me and he's into sports. "Just fill this out, please." he said handing me a clipboard.

It was a straight forward application. Nothing to taxing. He looked it over and then stood up and went to the filing cabinet.

"So, do I have a job?" I asked as I watched him rummage in the drawer.

"Yep, here you go." Bret said handing me a black t-shirt that read, DANIELS MUSIC EMPORIUM on the front in white letter and on the back it read, MUSIC EXPERT. "You can start tomorrow. You'll be added to the schedule by then."

"Thank you." I smiled.

"You're welcome. You'll meet the wife and the other employees tomorrow." Bret beamed as he walked me to the door. I smiled again before I got in the car. I held the shirt up in front of me.

"That's not embarrassing at all." I said aloud to myself in the car. I tossed the shirt to side and made my way toward the Daculette reservation.

* * *

When I got to the rez, Maverick and Travis were just getting there as well. There was another truck behind theirs that I didn't recognize but I don't know everyone they know.

"Hey, Mercy." Maverick said as I approached them. Standing with them was an older man, with jowls and long silver hair.

"Mercedes, this is Winston Littleleaf." Travis said introducing us. I was a little nervous because Winston had such a severe face.

"How you doing?" he asked with a bright boyish grin. I eased and smiled back.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Wonderful." he said. "You're dad'll be here soon. Hope you guys are staying for dinner." Winston said as he pushed Travis inside the house.

"Sorry about that." Mav said. "He gets excited when we get visitors." we laughed. "So, you wanna take a walk?"

"Sure." I smiled. We walked in silence for a while before he cleared his throat.

"Where were you on Saturday?" he blurted out, avoiding my eyes.

"I was..." I stopped. I wasn't sure how to proceed with the rest of the sentence. "I was with my boyfriend."

"What? Oh. Who? Schuester?" Maverick asked. I felt his body tense beside me. I didn't know what else to do but answer honestly.

"Yes. He wanted me to meet his family."

"Oh." he said coolly. "Cool." We continued to walk, the silence threatening to choke us. I decided my best bet would be to change the topic.

"Do you know what's going on with those animal attacks?" I asked. He shook his long hair.

"Nah. Dad and Win said that it got somebody else on their way into the Lima but that's it." he said plainly with a glance in my direction.

"It's getting really close to town." I murmured. I knew that it was other vampires but I couldn't say that. It was clear that Maverick had a crush on me so saying that the stuff that legends are made of were killing people, was out of the question. He'd never believe me and he'd think I was crazy. Hell, I would think I was crazy if I didn't know the truth about what's out there. "Has the search party gotten any closer to finding it?" _I hope not. _

"No. Dad said that Chief Mason said that he and Sheriff Turner were leading the two teams themselves along with Officer Sidney of the Animal Control and they've all got nothing." he said kicking rocks along the rode. "I head Gordy found a human footprint." My eyes grew huge. The vampires was close. Close to my dad. As Maverick and I made our way back toward his house I saw my dad pulling up behind my car. He had taken off his suit jacket and tie and had his sleeves rolled up.

"Hey, Merc." he called with a wave. I ran over and hugged him tightly. "You ok?" he murmured. I just nodded. Yes, I lied. Again, Sam's secret is just that, Sam's secret. I'm not going to tell; but I am going to tell Sam about how close that other vampires are town. I don't know if they can do anything about it but, it'll make me feel safe just knowing that he knows.

"Oh, um are we staying for dinner?" I asked as I walked with my arm in Gordon's toward the house.

"Nah. I'm in the mood for alfredo." he said with a wink. "Did you get that job?"

"I did. Mr...I mean Bret seems cool."

"He's a hippy." he said holding the door for me. I laughed as we joined everyone in the living room.

The afternoon drug by. Maverick and I spent it online shopping for classic cars and vintage boots we'll never have. When it was time to go, I hugged him and told him to stay out of trouble.

"I'm not the one with the boyfriend." he teased. I playfully slapped his arm before heading toward the front door to meet Gordon. He was saying his goodbyes to Winston and Travis when I got there.

"I'll see you fellas this Saturday." he said shaking their hands.

"What's Saturday?" I asked.

"Fish-off." Winston said smiling. "Person with the biggest catch gets the whole haul."

"I can't lose." Gordon said. "I'm a natural."

"Yeah right, Doc and I can walk." Travis said causing all of us to laugh.

"Well, don't come crying to me when I'm hauling all that fish back to my house." my dad said with a smirk. Travis and Winston rolled their eyes.

"Get outta here." Travis said opening the door for us. "You just be ready to throw that haul on the back of my truck." he called.

"That's so nice of you to offer to bring it out to my house but my truck will work just fine." Gordon said before getting into his car, laughing. I waved and got into my car. I followed him off the rez but he picked up speed. I was enjoying the scenery and I just wanted to think. When I pulled up Breadstix, Jerry, Greg, Robbie and few of their other guy friends were hanging out. I hadn't really talked to them this past week but oh well.

"Hey." Jerry said running up to me, Greg behind him. "My dad said you work at the store now."

"Yeah, I start tomorrow."

"Awesome. I'll train you." he smiled. I smiled back and nodded before he ran off and jumped on Robbie's back.

"Hey, L.A., how you doing?" Greg asked stepping in front of me. I nodded and he continued. "So, you and Evans, huh? That's...I don't like it." I cocked my head to the side and looked at him. _Was he for real? _"I mean, I don't know, he just looks at you like you're something to eat." I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you for your concern, Greg but Sam is a great guy and from what I can tell you don't really know him. He's just...intense." I said before going inside the restaurant. So, yes, Greg Smith was right on the money. Sam did look at me like I was something to eat but he couldn't help that and I didn't blame him. "Sorry, I got behind. I was enjoying the scenery." I said joining Gordon in our regular booth.

"I ordered you the alfredo with broccoli. I hope that's ok." he said. I nodded as Merna approached.

"Hey Gordy, the boys want to know..." she began as my dad looked around her at the booth behind her filled with older men. "did you find anything by Mystic River yesterday?" Gordon sighed.

"Yeah, we found a bare human footprint." he said. Maverick had been right. I was right. The vampires were close. "But Chief Mason said it looks like whoever it is, is headed East, so Newbury County sheriff is gonna take over from here." he informed them.

"Ok." she said sadly.

"Ok?" Gordon said looking down at his plate.

"I just hope they catch him fast." Merna said before she moved away from our table. I touched Gordon's arm and gave him a warm smile. He smiled back and began to twirl his fork in his pasta silently. Gordon looked out the window and smirked.

"It looks like your friends are flagging ya." he chuckled. I looked over my shoulder to see Greg shaking his ass in the window. Gross. "It's ok if you wanna go and join 'em. I'm just gonna turn in early anyway."

"Me too." I said, taking a sip of water.

"Mercy, I know it's Sunday but you can hang out with your friends. Looks like the Smith boy's got a big smile for you." he said twirling his pasta again.

"Yeah, he's a good buddy." I said chomping on a broccoli floret.

"What about any of these other yahoos in town?" he asked eying the boys outside the restaurant. "Anybody interest you?"

"Dad, we're gonna talk about boys?" I asked blushing slightly. _Hell to the no!_

"Yeah...I guess not." he chuckled nervously. "I just feel like I leave you alone too much. You should be around people."

"I don't really mind being alone." I stated truthfully. "I guess I'm kinda like my dad in that way." I smiled. He returned to my smile and we finished out dinner in a relative but comfortable silence.

* * *

**A/N: By the way, to my knowledge there is no Newbury county in or around Lima, Ohio.**

**Don't forget to review! I love hearing from you guys.**


	10. Lima is growing on me

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well. I present to all of you the latest chapter of Gleelight. I'm really excited about the upcoming chapters. It should be fun to write and I hope you enjoy reading them. **

**I'm also excited about the sequel, _Glee Moon. _It'll be different to write but it'll also give me a chance to fix some things I think are wrong with _The Twilight Saga: New Moon. _**

**Anyway, Happy Reading!**

**And as always, REVIEWS = LOVE! (So love me!)**

**DISCLAIMER: _I do NOT own: Glee, The Twilight Saga: Twilight, any characters, words, places, characterizations from either, Hot Chelle Rae, Paramore, Jesse McCartney or anything else you can find in the real world._**

**-The views regarding _Hot Chelle Rae_ are solely mine. You don't have to agree but please be aware that I don't care if you agree or not so _DO NOT _waste your time reviewing to tell me how wrong you think I am because again, I don't care. -M. K. Thomas-**

**THIS FANFICTION IS UNBETA'D. ALL MISTAKES ARE UNINTENTIONAL. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.**

* * *

When Gordon and I got home I went straight upstairs, grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom. I took a hot shower and decided to go sans pants tonight. I pulled on my purple t-shirt and cotton zebra print boy shorts. I entered my room, threw my pants to the side and sat cross legged at the head of my bed. I had a few options now. I could read the book that Mr. Murdoch assigned..again or I could call my mom and check in.

The mom option won.

"Hello." she answered happily.

"Hey Mom! How are you?" I said smiling.

"Oh baby, I'm great. How are you doing?"

"I'm great. How's the music stuff coming?"

"Grant's working so hard." mom said. "You know, tuning up the band." she joked. That was our code for Grant working harder than anyone in the band; he dubbed as their manager. "The house I want is so beautiful. You're gonna love San Diego, baby."

"Yeah?" I said. "I'm really liking Lima."

"What?" my mom said her voice full of disbelief.

"Lima is growing on me." I said beaming.

"Could a guy have anything to do that?" she asked always knowing how to decipher Mercedes speak.

"Well, yeah." I chuckled, blushing slightly at the thought of Sam.

"I knew it! Tell me everything. What is he? Jock? Indie?" she questioned excitedly. "Is he smart? I bet he's smart." she said. I was about to tell her about the awesomeness that is Sam Evans-Schuester when I heard my window slide open. I turned my head and gasped. Sam. He was in my room.

"Mom, can I...talk you later?" I asked my eyes locked on him as he closed the window.

"Come on, we gotta talk boys." she said. I shook my head and before I could hit the end button, my mom pulled a mom and yelled, "Are you being safe?" I know he heard it but I just hung up. I crawled to the end of the bed where he was standing.

"How did you get in here?" I asked looking into his green diamond eyes.

"The window." he chuckled.

"Do you do that a lot?" I asked. My mind instantly went to the time I woke up and could have sworn I saw him standing in the corner of my bedroom.

"Well, just the past couple of months." he said his eyes locked on mine. I nodded slightly. I was having trouble breathing once again. Being close to Sam caused that fire to rage within me again. "I like watching you sleep." my cheeks reddened slightly at the boldness of his admission. "It's kind of fascinating to me." I was silent but bit my bottom lips lightly. "I always want to try one thing." he said inching closer to me. "Just stay very still." My breathing became somewhat labored and I leaned forward a bit. "Don't move." he muttered still moving forward. Sam closed his eyes and I closed mine, my breath ragged now as I felt his cool breath on my lips. I waited for him. I inhaled sharply when I felt his lips brush mine before they completely captured mine in a fiery lock. I didn't waste any time. I kissed him back with verve. The kiss broke briefly, me gasping for air, only to resume right where we left it. I moved forward on the bed and wrapped one arm around his neck and put my other hand on his face, feeling his cold skin under my warm fingertips. Sam's arms were wrapped tightly around my waist.

Our kiss was deep and passionate. I was standing on the edge of my bed now, over him, his arms still around me. We broke apart again, staring into each other's eyes, panting before he swiftly threw us onto my bed. His weight a welcome addition as he kissed my harder, his hand gripping my now bare waist where my t-shirt lifted. I slide my hand down his chest slowly, savoring every perfect line of him. I reached his jeans and I took a deep breath before I popped them open.

"Stop." he yelled shooting off the bed and pressing himself against the wall in front of my bed. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry." I said quickly not knowing what else to say in the moment. We looked at each other for a long moment before he spoke.

"I'm stronger than I thought." he said in his normal tone.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I wish I could say the same." I said my pulling my knees to my chest trying to hide my moistened panties. He sighed and looked away from me. I deflated a little when he turned his back to me completely.

"I can't ever lose control with you." he said over his shoulder. He took two steps forward and panic began to course through me.

"Hey, don't go." I said softly. He turned back to look at me. Sam took a few steps and sat down on the edge of my bed. I took a heavy breath. "I'm..."

"It's alright." he said with a crooked smile. I returned it. "I'll stay." Sam whispered. I was nervous. I had never had a boy in my room before. Especially not a boy that I had such strong feelings for. "I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation with you mother."

"That's ok. She would've have talked me to death. She's a bit nosy." I joked.

"She wants to be involved in your life."

"I know."

"She's lucky to have known you your whole life." he said. I grinned at him. He moved quickly and leaned against my headboard, legs outstretched and crossed at the ankles. I pulled the sheet up and leaned back beside him not touching. "May I ask a question?"

"Of course." I nodded.

"I apologize if it seems...rude."

"Just ask."

"Is your mother always so in your personal life?" he asked.

"Yvette Tomlinson believes one can be never be too personal." I answered. He laughed and I couldn't help but smile at the sound. Sam and I talked all night. When I woke up the next morning, I was laying on Sam. My arm around his waist, my head on his chest.

"Good morning." he said gently.

"Morning." I said not moving. I covertly moved my other hand to my face to check for dry drool and eye gunk before I looked up at him. When I was free and clear I moved and looked him in the eye.

"I have to go now." he said swinging his legs off the bed.

"Why?" I ached at the loss of him from my bed.

"Two reasons. I need to change for school and..." he started but was out of the window. Before I get up to ask him what reason two was, Gordon knocked on my door.

"Time to get up, Merc. School."

"I'm up." I sighed. I glanced at the window. I touch my arm, side and the side of my head that was pressed against Sam. They were still cold but as they began to warm up I felt a sadness. I got up and dressed for school. When I got downstairs, Gordon was gone but he had left me an Eggo and half a grapefruit. I smiled at his attempt at breakfast before sitting down to eat. About thirty minutes later, there was a horn honking outside my house. I grabbed my backpack and ran outside. "Hey." I said getting into the car.

"Hey." Sam said with a crooked smile. "What's that hanging out of your bag?"

"What?" I turned to look and I realized it was my work shirt. "Oh." I pulled it out and showed him as we sped toward school.

"You didn't need a job, Mercedes." he said his eyes on the road.

"What? I need money. Everyone needs money."

"I'm aware of that. I could have given you whatever you want."

"I don't want to owe you anything." I said softly.

"It would have been a gift." Sam said glancing at me.

"Still." I didn't want him buying me things. I would feel like I needed to repay him. Now I'm in no way one of those girls that has the self-esteem of a potato but that didn't mean that from the moment he made his feelings known that I didn't feel...lucky in the worst way. Sam was this gorgeous specimen and I was the cute chunky black girl. I don't know. I love him and I suppose he loves me but that doesn't change the fact that I sometimes feel like I'm lacking. I know that I deserve him, most days, but sometimes that low self-esteem monster would creep into my head and make me doubt that.

It make me think that he should be with someone who's beautiful, not cute. Someone who looks like what the world at large says beauty is. That he deserves so much more than me and more than I can offer him. That I don't deserve someone as amazing and gorgeous as Sam Evans-Schuester. But I can usually fight the monster off and return to sanity where the hottest boy to ever live is my boyfriend and we deserve each other equally.

Sam parked the car in the parking lot, got out and opened my door. We walked across the parking lot hand in hand. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me. _'I love you.'_ I thought as he waved to Tina and Mike. He was happy today. He didn't always seem like the happiest person but he'd had a long life and it held so many secrets that I didn't know yet. Sam was intense, smart and friendly. Everything that a girl could want in a boyfriend. I knew I was lucky.

School moved rather quickly. Lunch was a different experience. Usually, Sam and I would eat alone at a table, undisturbed; but for some reason, my friends and members of his family thought that interrupting our meal and conversation every five minutes was a good idea. First Greg and Jerry came to badger Sam about the prom. He told them I would be out of town so he wouldn't be attending then he promptly dismissed them. Then Tina, followed closely by Mike came over to ask me when I would be coming to the house again. She and Kurt wanted to hang out. I told her I wasn't sure, I had a job now so I'd have to work around my schedule. She said ok and was about to speak again when Sam dismissed her as well. She pouted before returning to her table. When the bell rang, Sam said that next time, we'll eat off campus that way the pests can't bother us. I had to laugh because that was exactly what I was going to suggest.

After school, April informed me that Jerry was waiting for me in the parking lot. She didn't know why but he had asked her to relay the message. So, hand in hand with Sam we headed outside.

"Hey Mercedes." he called waving.

"He wants to drive you to work." Sam muttered, squeezing my hand. I glanced up at him before smiling at Jerry.

"Hi." I said.

"I thought maybe we could ride to work together." he said smiling. Sam chuckled.

"Oh. That's nice of you to offer." I said, the cogs in my brain grinding trying to think of an excuse _not_ to ride with him.

"Great. I'll be waiting while you say goodbye to Sam." he said getting into his car. My mouth fell open.

"Well, have a good time at work." Sam laughed.

"I'm glad my situation amuses you." I said pushing him playfully.

"I'll see you tonight." he said kissing me on the forehead. I nodded and got into Jerry's car.

"You ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be." I said through a fake smile as I watched Sam peel out of the parking lot.

* * *

When we arrived at The Daniels Music Emporium, Jerry parked in the back. He had talked the entire time about how happy he was that I was working at the store with him. He told me that Robbie used to work there but he never wanted to follow instructions. When we got inside, he pointed me in the direction of the bathroom so that I could change.

I pulled my t-shirt on and pulled my hair up. I looked at myself in my mirror. I really was cute. I sighed and headed to the back part of the store.

"Hey." Bret said smiling as I approached him and Jerry.

"Hi." I smiled back.

"So, Jer is gonna train you up. I'll be out front." He said patting me hard on the back. "This needs to be done in an hour, Jerry. No exceptions." Bret said sternly before leaving the back room.

"Yes, sir drill sergeant, sir." Jerry said as the door closed behind his father. "Anyway, we've gotta scan all of these in." he said cutting the box open. "Then we have to take them to the floor and add them to the bins."

"Ok." I said. He handed me the scanner and showed me how to use it. I scanned every CD as he pulled it out of the box. "How many come in a box?"

"About 200. But we get them from a wholesaler so it's about fifty CDs per artist." he explained. I nodded. When we finally got to the bottom of the box, he lifted it and I held the door open for him as we walked out on to the floor. "Alright, anything that has an orange sticker on it, is a new release." he said holding up the new _Hot Chelle Rae_ album. He reached in the box and grabbed the other forty-nine cases and I followed him to the pop section. "Ok, so we push all these old ones to the back and put the new ones in the front."

"Ok but why are there two rows for HCR?" I asked.

"You like them?" he asked.

"Less now than before. I'm an Ian fan, but I stayed for Nash."

"Oh. Cool. My sister likes Ryan." Jerry said.

"Good for her." I deadpanned.

"Not a fan?" he laughed.

"I'm not in to meerkats." I said. "Anyway, why are there two rows?"

"This row is for singles." he informed me. I nodded and went back to the box. I pulled out fifty _Paramore _CDs and went to the rock section. I ran my fingers along the bin saying the alphabet until I found the Ps. The stack I had in my hand weren't new releases so I flipped through what was there and filled in.

"You need help?" Jerry asked when we met back up at the box.

"No. I think I've got it." I said grabbing another stack. He leaned over and looked at what I was holding.

"Jesse McCartney. That's all the way in the back corner." he pointed.

"Yeah thanks." I said rolling my eyes when he turned away from me. I headed toward the giant sign that read R&B. The rest of the afternoon drug by. A couple of times I thought the clock had stopped. I clocked out and waited for Jerry outside. He drove me home and tried to make small talk the whole time. When he pulled the car to a stop in front of my house I had never been more happy to see my house. I said a hurried goodbye to Jerry before jumping out of the car and running for the front door.

"Hey Mercedes." Gordon said as I threw my backpack down. He was carrying two shot guns and some ammo.

"Hey. What are you doing?" I asked as I followed him into the kitchen.

"I'm going hunting next week Sunday after church, so I'm going to clean my guns on Saturday." he said leaning the guns against the wall.

"It's not hunting season." I said moving to refrigerator to pull something out for dinner. "And what about the fish-off?"

"It's hunting season on the rez and according to Winston it's gonna storm." he grinned. I chuckled and whipped up a quick tuna noodle casserole. "How was work?" Gordon asked as he shoved his fork into his mouth.

"It was ok. You could've mentioned that Bret was a bit of a jerk." I said with chuckle.

"Was he a jerk to you?" he asked.

"No."

"That's why I didn't mention it. Trust me. I'm not the only parent that's told him not to treat Jerry that way but he doesn't listen. He dotes on his younger sister and his older sister but that kid he berates."

"Why?" I wondered.

"I shouldn't be telling you this but the town gossip is that Bret isn't Jerry's dad." Gordon said.

"Then who is?" I asked leaning forward in my chair.

"Assistant Pastor Franklin."

"What?! That's insane."

"Yep, but that's just gossip. It's never been confirmed and I'm not sure that your friend knows anything about it." he said. "So keep it that way."

"Of course." I said wide eyed. I couldn't believe it. Lima had been rocked with an L. A. type scandal. After we finished dinner, Gordon did the dishes and I headed upstairs to my room. I took my work shirt off and folded it up. According to my schedule, I work every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3:00pm to 8:00pm when the store closed. It wasn't that bad. I was making $8.50 and hour and I wasn't really doing anything, so win for me.

I grabbed a quick shower and put on a t-shirt and cotton short for bed. When I entered back into the room, I gasped.

"Sam. You scared me." I said closing my bedroom door.

"I'm sorry." he chuckled. I climbed into bed and sat beside him. He was on top of the covers again. "How was work?"

"Fine. I work Monday, Wednesday and Friday." I replied.

"Ok. Good to know."

"What did you do today?"

"Finn and I went hunting and then we just messed around. Racing and that kind of stuff." Sam said.

"Are you and him close?" I asked.

"Yes. The only person I'm closer to is Quinn." he informed me. "I am of course close to all of my siblings but Finn and I just clicked."

"I get that. He seems fun." I smiled.

"More fun than you know." a smile eased onto his face as a memory flickered across his eyes. "Oh, Will wanted me to invite you to play baseball with us this Saturday."

"Since when do vampires like baseball?" I asked with a laugh.

"Well, it's the American pastime, and there's a thunderstorm coming. It's the only time we can play. You'll see why." Sam smirked.

"Ok. It sounds fun." I said. "But you know you have to officially meet Gordon."

"I'm aware. I'm fully prepared for it." he said as I cuddled up next to him.

"Good." I yawned. "I can't wait." I said before drifting off to sleep, with the love of my life next to me.


End file.
